Love Beats Everything
by CarolOfTheBells333
Summary: Most who loved Gabriella died and everyone else turned bad. Was she some sort of cursed pendant that whoever grows close to her is cursed. Gabriella wanted a change from the fame and decided to start a second life at East High, where she meets the friends she longs for, but can't have, and the love of her life, that she can't love.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Before I start, I need to say a few things. Firstly, my previous incomplete story with only 2 chapters was deleted cause it was too violent. Secondly, I haven't finished my first story because I don't have ideas. I hope you guys are okay with this arrangement and you enjoy the less violent version of the story I wanted to tell.**

Normal: Present

 _Italics: Flashbacks or Song Lyrics_

 **Bold: Author's Notes or Other**

Gabriella Anne Montez. That was the name my parents, Carlos Montez and Maria Montez had told the doctors to print on my birth certificate. Personally, I liked it. I liked the girly feel of it, but I wasn't girly. In fact, I was more of a tomboy. I hardly wore dresses, my favorite color was NOT pink and I absolutely HATED shopping. The only thing I shopped for was food.

That's a bit about my 11 year old self. Actually, I'm turning 12 in 58 minutes. It's 5 o'clock in the afternoon on the 9th of June at the moment and I'm just about to head out to a really good Japanese restaurant. Me and my brother, Juan were cracking jokes for the whole car ride. Seriously, though, he made me laugh so much. When I was the saddest I could ever be, he'd always find some way to make me laugh. When I at strangulation-level-anger, he would always calm me down and make me smile.

We entered the restaurant and ordered some sushi and sashimi – my favorites. They put the food on a pretty boat, made out of wood and it sat on the tabletop looking delicious and ready to eat. Digging in, I found myself eating as much as I usually eat. Yes, I eat a lot. When I finished my meal, I politely wiped my mouth with the napkin and we headed out.

This year, we were going to Hawaii for a holiday. It wasn't a birthday present, it was to celebrate my parent's 17th anniversary and they had decided to generously bring my brother and I along.

We boarded the plane and I felt a mysterious aura around me. Sort of, as if someone I knew was on it too and they were stalking me. Okay. Maybe not stalking, but following? That was a more suitable word.

One day, my family decided to tan on the beach and that was how I met my soon-to-be godfather.

Zac Efron.

I saw him and I just stared. Simply stared. I guess it was kind of creeper-ish, but I wanted to see if I needed glasses. I had never met a celebrity before and I had no idea what so ever to do in these circumstances. I think he saw me staring at him because he looked at me weirdly. Great. He probably thought I was a freakish fan-girl in a bikini, trying to impress him. I wasn't actually in a bikini, but whatever.

He started to walk towards my portable-fold-up chair and I broke the eye contact.

"Hi," he greeted me. "Why are you looking at me?"

I didn't even look at him, which was rude…

"Do want me to show you an overly dramatic demonstration?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

I stood up as he nodded… hesitantly and I began the performance.

"OH. MY. GOSH! Is that Zac Efron I see? He is like my favorite celebrity… no, my favorite person in the whole universe! Oh my gosh! His body is so gorgeous! He has muscles and abs and an amazing tan! OH MY GOD, I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE IT AND DON'T TELL ME IT'S A DREAM BECAUSE IT ISN'T! I'd give up everything in life just to spend 1 second with you! By the way, I know everything about you, it's not even creepy! I love you so so much! I've seen ALL of your movies! I'm not even joking! I even saw those ones that you did as a kid! They are sooo adorable! Oh my gosh, I've wanted to marry you for 13 years and now's my chance! I'm not even 13 years old yet so I guess I knew my fate even before my parents 'did it'!" I got down on one knee, "Zac Alexander David Efron, will you please marry me?!" I didn't wait for him to replied because I engulfed him into a hug and smashed my lips on his for only 1 second. It was already too disgusting and I just stood there, waiting for him to get over his shock.

"Well," he stuttered. "No one has actually done that to me before, but I guess it was good acting. It was amazing actually. People don't act as excited as that in exciting scenes when I'm filming."

I smiled. He thought I was good at acting. I've always wanted to be an actress.

"That's what I have in mind when I picture extreme fan-girls meeting their idols," I shrugged.

"Well, now I've experienced it and I know what will happen, so thanks. I've also just gotten my kiss for the day," he stated.

"Your kiss for the day? You get kissed much?" I asked.

"It's my mom who does it, not on the lips, of course, but I guess you've already done the lips," he said, pointing to his mouth.

"You're my first kiss," I told him.

"I'm truly honored. I wouldn't expect you to have done much kissing anyway. You like 12 right?" He questioned.

"Yep. By the way, I'm not like those fan-girls. I'm actually having a civil conversation with you at the moment, but I do want a photo. Then, I can go and brag about my awesome holiday to my friends. Just kidding, I'm not gonna use you like that," I joked.

"I hope not," Zac smiled.

We took a few photos with different poses. At least this was a quiet beach. There weren't fans swarming us and I could have some alone time with Zac.

"So, you're not from here?" Zac asked.

"Nah. I'm here to celebrate my parent's 17th anniversary. Yeah, they actually wanted to drag me along with them. I'm actually from Australia," I explained.

"That's cool. I'm from…"

"America," I finished. "Everyone knows that, Zac."

"Hey! I'm not that famous!" he defended himself.

"That's what you think."

30 minutes later, we were sat on some wooden stools in a vintage café, chatting about whatever came to our minds. So far, we had exchanged birthdays, family details and a bunch of other nonsense.

"You're a nice girl, Gabriella. You don't treat me like a celebrity, you treat me like a normal person," Zac said suddenly.

I thought for a moment.

"I don't like treating different people differently. You get the same reaction every time if you treat everyone according to what they would like," I said.

"You're smart for your age. Anyway, I think I have to go now, sorry. Is there anything I can do to repay you for your time?" Zac said, getting up from his seat.

I smiled slyly.

"Your number?"

That was a year ago. I had talked to Zac once or twice this year and it was now my 13th birthday. We were going to the same Japanese restaurant to order the same meal. How delicious!

Once my dad had paid the bill, sauntered out the door, bidding the server goodbye. We were about to reach the car when I felt a hand on my arm, pulling me gently in a different direction. Thinking it was my mom, I followed the person into a dark alleyway. Suddenly, I heard a muffled shriek. It sounded like my mom's.

I tried to turn around, but my attacker had the firmest grip I had ever felt. It stopped my whole body from moving. Then it all happened.

Shouts from my dad. Shrieks from my mom. Screams from me. Gunshots. Something falling to the ground.

I had had my eyes closed for the whole time, not bearing to look at the direction of the gunshots. But when I did open them, I collapsed to the ground in tears. The picture looked like this:

My mom and dad, bending over a body. Blood flowing out of the body's head like a stream. The attackers had left, thankfully.

I stood up and walked towards my family, dreading the sight before me. My heart broke into 2 when I saw him lying on the ground motionless. Unbreathing.

Juan.

My best friend. My brother. The person who always cheered me up. Dead?

No. It couldn't be! It wasn't fair! How could he die? It should've been me.

It should've been me.

Yes, it should've been me.

Mom didn't come with us on the way back home. Who knows where she was? Probably shopping or something like that.

Dad drove me home and the car ride was silent. Like dead silent. I couldn't even hear him breathing. But when I got out of the car, he slammed the door behind me, took me by the collar and shoved me into the house. I heard the door close with a bang and I jumped a little. Even before I his the ground, I felt a slap on my back. I turned around, horrified. Did my dad just slap me? _My dad? My own father?_

"Don't complain. This is all your fault. If you weren't born, we would be out there 'celebrating' your birthday and he wouldn't have died." Then, slapping my cheek after every word, he yelled at me. "THIS! IS! ALL! YOUR! FAULT!"

By now, I was scared stiff. How could he turn on me just that? Like he just shouldn't have gotten mom pregnant!

"How is this my fault?" I yelled. "Mom shouldn't have gotten pregnant by YOU anyway!"

With that, he punched me in the nose. I'm pretty sure he broke it because there was blood streaming down my face and tears drowning it.

"Don't blame this on me or your mother!" he growled. "It is your fault and you know it."

I was silent. What could I say?

"Now, here's your punishment," he hissed with a glint of evil in his eye.

He ripped all my clothes of and attempted to 'have fun with me.'

That's the story of my life from when I turned 13.

The next day, I had to go to school. I had wiped the blood out of my nose and the tear stains were gone, but I still looked dead tired. There were bags under my eyes and my usually silky curls were frizzy and unkempt. I had to walk for 1 hour of course. Who was my dad to take me?

Jacob Platelle. The school bully. Of course he had heard about the situation in which 'I killed my brother.' The typical Jacob offered me his arm to walk me to my classroom. I smacked it away, though. I was just not in the mood.

But when I did, he pulled me away hard and my books dropped to the floor. I fought and fought and fought my way out, but he was just too strong.

That's when I found myself locked in the disabled bathroom.

Turns out he also wanted to 'have fun with me.'

I arrived late to class and my teacher scolded me. I didn't even look up and I just went to sit at the back. My best friend, Alyssa, didn't even steal a glance at me. How disappointing.

All my friends avoided me at lunch and it was clear that they thought I was a murderer. I don't even think the police were notified about the incident.

I walk home for 1 hour again and this time I was met with a flashy sports car in the driveway. Ugh. Alyssa. Who was she to park in the driveway of _my_ home?

The door swung open just as I was about to touch the handle to reveal a smirking Alyssa with her arms crossed.

"This is payback. I loved your brother," she spat.

Then I saw her father.

He want to 'have fun with me too.'

The next year had come and it was my 14th birthday. Every single day, I had lived with the abuse and I was sure that the bruises, scratches and marks from my dad were permanent. My mom was hardly in the house and god know where she was!

June 9th. My favorite day of the year.

My dad was at work, obviously. Why would he bother to say 'happy birthday,' let alone 'happy 1 year anniversary of when you killed your brother.' But I think my mom came home because I could hear pots and pans clanging in the kitchen.

I walked in there and my mom was a mess. Her hair was messy, her clothes were crumpled and back to front, inside out. She heard me and turned around with a weak smile on her face.

"Happy birthday," she said and with that, she pulled out a gun from her pocket and held it up.

"NO!" I yelled, running up to her, but I was too late.

I lost another that I could've saved.

The blood poured out of her head, dying the floor the worst shade of red there could ever be.

I ran. I just did it. I took my phone, my songbook and my family photo album which only contained pictures from when my parents got married to last year. I ran to Jells Park which was close, but not too far away to run to. I sat down on a bench and looked down. I would hate it if people saw my tear-stained face and asked if I was okay. Like hell! If I'm crying, why would I be okay?

The phone rang the moment I sat down and I picked it up. Haha. It was Zac. I pressed the answer button.

"Hey, Gabriella. How are you," Zac greeted.

"Peachy," I replied sarcastically.

"First of all, happy birthday. I forgot to call you for your 13th, sorry, but I remembered this year. Secondly, I know you, Gabriella. Now tell me what's up." Zac said.

"I don't know. My brother was murdered last year when were coming out of the Japanese restaurant, my mom killed herself, like 10 minutes ago and my dad has been abusing me and raping me since my brother died and…" I was cut off.

"Hold up. I'm coming right now. I'll call you when I get to the taxi," Zac interrupted hastily.

"No, Zac. You don't have…" The line went dead.

I stayed in the park overnight without food or drink. To be honest, I wasn't even hungry. I was surprised that my dad hadn't tried to come after me, but I was safe. There hadn't been a car for hours, but now there was one. It was a taxi.

Zac.

Even before the taxi stopped, Zac rushed out and enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh my god! Are you alright? I can't believe that happened to you! I'm so, so sorry I didn't call before!" he exclaimed.

When I had room to breathe, I smiled at him.

"Thanks, Zac. Take me home," I said.

"What? No! To your house? No way! We're going to _my_ home," he insisted.

He took me by the hand and dragged me into the taxi.

"Airport," Zac commanded.

"Sure? You've just come back from it," the taxi driver asked.

"Just go." Zac rolled his eyes.

I fell asleep on the journey, but I was woken up to see 2 blue eyes staring straight back at me.

"We're here," is all he said before we got out of the taxi.

His house was amazing. It looked homely and comfortable. He showed me my room and it was absolutely beautiful. It had a queen-sized bed, a desk, a walk-in-wardrobe and a bathroom. It even had balcony!

"You can stay here until you're 18," Zac said.

Was he joking with me? I looked at his face and saw sincerity and kindness. I gave him a hug.

"Thanks, Zac. What will you be to me?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Like if I go to school, what would you be? I don't have my parents here. Would you be my guardian?" I questioned.

"I was hoping for a higher title like 'your godfather' or something like that," he joked.

I half-heartedly laughed at his joke because I was tired, but I agreed.

"That would mean the world to me," I smiled, hugging him again.

"Now go and sleep," he whispered in my ear.

I nodded and plopped onto the bed.

The next day, I woke up pretty early. For some reason, I can't sleep for more than 12 hours. Thankfully, it was a weekend and it was almost breakfast time. I walked downstairs and saw Zac cooking… shirtless. I covered my eyes.

"Argh! I hope you don't walk around nude every day in front of me!" I exclaimed, looking away.

Zac laughed.

"I just came back from the gym and I was sweaty," Zac complained.

"The gym? You left me alone in the house!" I asked.

"What? No. The one downstairs," he explained.

"Oh, of course. You're rich," I smirked, sitting down at the table.

"No need to rub it in. Anyway, here's your breakfast," he said, serving me a plate of bacon, eggs and toast.

It was unexpectedly good. Like really good. I could live off this for a million years if I had to.

"This tastes like restaurant food," I mumbled with my mouth full.

"I'm flattered and remember your manners," he reminded.

"Sorry," I muttered.

He laughed and sat down in front of me.

"You don't sleep much?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"Never over 12 hours."

"Wow. What do you wanna be when you're older?" he asked.

I was surprised by the change of subject, but I answered anyway.

"Something I can do now to get my mind off things," I replied.

"Like what?"

"Your job," I answered.

"Oh yeah. Remember when you first met me? That was hilarious. It's kind of weird that you kissed me, now that I'm your godfather. You'd be good at acting. But do you really want to do it seriously?" he asked.

I nodded.

"That would be great," I said.

"My agent is looking for child actors," Zac proposed. "You can do it if you want to."

"Really? Are you serious?" I asked excitedly.

"Very."

"That would be amazing!" Squealed, stopping myself from hugging him over the table.

It's now been 2 years and I'm worldwide famous. Like really. World-wide famous. I have like 15 million followers on Twitter and 20 million subscribers on Youtube. Zac has competition.

One morning he said to me, "How is it that you're almost passing me on twitter?"

"Oh! I'm becoming more famous than you!" I grinned.

"Ever thought about taking a break from the fame?' Zac asked.

"Actually I have. Can I go to school?" I inquired.

Zac looked taken aback.

"Wait. Really?"

"Yes, really. There's a school down the road, isn't there?" I asked.

"I'm signing you up now. You probably want to graduate from a real school right? You're actually doing grade 12 work at the moment so you'll do fine," Zac said, picking up the phone.

"Good morning. Are there any free spots in your school? Junior. Gabriella Montez? Please don't tell the teachers that it's her. My name? Zac Efron. Yes, really. Next week? Thanks," Zac said and he put the phone down.

"I'm starting next week?" I asked.

"Yeah. To take a break from all this movie stuff. You've already finished another one," he said.

"I'm actually excited."

"Are you going to tell people who you are?" Zac asked.

"Nah. I don't want to make fake friends. You know, the friends who use you for money, popularity and status. I don't want those friends. I haven't had friends in years and I don't trust much people. It's gonna be hard, but I'm ready for it," I said.

"That makes sense," Zac nodded.

Seven days later…

 **Author's Note: I hoped you like it!**

 **Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I hope you like it!**

 **Bold: Author's Note/ Other**

Normal: Present

 _Italics: Flashback/ Song lyrics/ Texts_

Gabriella woke up. It was her first day of school today and she was scared, but ready for it. She got dressed in a hoodie, sweatpants and sneakers. I added glasses to make me less recognizable and cap to shield my head from view. I just hoped people would stay away.

"Are you ready?" Zac asked.

"I am," I said in a monotone.

"You're not," Zac sighed. "I know you, Gabriella. In interviews, you _act_ happy in interviews, it's not genuine happiness. School is a great opportunity to make true friends and to have real happiness. Tell me. What emotion can't you act?"

I was silent while I thought.

"Love. True love. Love scenes in movies aren't real. It's all kissing, no emotion," Gabriella stated bluntly.

"You're a great actress, Gabriella, but don't be afraid to show your true emotions if you're sad, angry of distressed," Zac advised.

"I won't be afraid," Gabriella repeated.

"I love you. Take good care," Zac hugged me.

"I love you too," Gabriella said.

What school spirit. There was white and red everywhere. The cheerleaders worse red and white uniforms and the jocks wore their red and white jerseys. Hell, even the loners wore red and white. Clearly this school had strict cliques. It was easy to identify the different ones.

 _I would be in the nobody section,_ Gabriella thought.

She kept her head down and ignored the stares she knew people were giving her. How rude. It's rude to stare. She arrived at the principal's office and knocked on the door loudly. The door swung wide open straight away and she nearly fell forward.

"Sorry about that. You must be the new student. Come in," the asian man said, gesturing for her to take a seat while he closed the door. "I'm Mr. Matsui and I understand that you'd like to keep your identity private."

"That's correct, sir," Gabriella nodded.

"I'm sorry to waste your time, but I have a few questions," Mr. Matsui said as he took out a pen and paper.

"Shoot."

"First of all, how is Zac Efron related to you?" was the first question.

"He's my godfather," Gabriella answered.

"Secondly, what will you do if someone figures out who you are?"

"No one will unless I tell them. I think glasses and caps are great disguises," Gabriella replied.

"And lastly, are you going to use your fame to put others down?"

"No, I would never do that."

"Okay, thank you, Gabriella. Here is your timetable and I hope you have a great day. I have told all the teachers that the new girl is allowed to keep her hat on at _all_ times," Mr. Matsui informed Gabriella.

"Thank you, sir," Gabriella said as she exited the office.

She kept her head low as she walked through the hallways of the school. The student body whispered to each other and wondered which clique she would fit in. Little did they know, she would fit into all of them.

Gabriella P.O.V.

I found my locker and entered the code. Simple huh, but I noticed that this locker was about twice the height of my locker back in Australia. What could possibly be kept in here? A boy came up next to me; a very attractive boy, might I add. He had messy brown hair and dazzling blue eyes. What a combination! He entered his code and opened his locker door. Clothes? Seriously? Who keeps clothes at school?

"What the heck?" I muttered under my breath, but I think he heard me?

"What did you say?" the boy asked.

"Nothing," I replied. "I was just wondering why the hell you would hang clothes in your locker?"

"Uh… for gym?" the boy said.

"Why don't you just wear gym clothes on the days you have gym instead of having to change?" I asked.

"Well, the cheerleaders and people like that like to dress all girlish and stuff. It's not possible for them to survive a day in shorts and a t-shirt," the boy explained.

"Right…" I said, as I shoved my bag into my locker and looked at my timetable.

"So you're new, right," the boy questioned.

"Nice observation," I mumbled sarcastically.

"I'm Troy. Troy Bolton," he said.

"Hi Troy."

He looked at me confused. Maybe it was because I didn't tell him _my_ name.

"Where did you go before you came here?" he asked.

"I haven't been to school for 2 years."

"Homeschool?"

"No, I just read books and stuff," I shrugged.

"Is that even legal?" he gaped. "Cause I'd love to do that."

"It's not what you think."

"Then… what classes do you have?" he asked.

I showed him my timetable.

"Do you need help to find the rooms?" he asked, as he scanned the paper.

"Oh yeah. Of course. Mr. Matsui gave me this map, but I don't know, like, how to navigate. Does that make sense. Actually, I'd appreciate a lot of help cause I don't know what my classes are. Like, what does AP mean?" I said.

He gave me back my timetable.

"Are you sure you've never been to school cause it looks like you've had a really good education. AP means Advanced Placement," Troy explained. "And you're even taking that extra sports program that no girls go to."

"There must be a mistake, I'm not smart or anything. But I haven't compared myself to you people. Since I haven't been to school in 2 years, I don't know how smart people are here. Oh god. I'm supposed to graduate, not fail! I'm also really keen on being a loner and not making friends," I said.

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Okay… look, I can bring you to homeroom. You have it with me. Ugh. Ms. Darbus is the worse. All she rambles on about is theatre and how cell phones are bad for our souls or something like that," Troy said.

"That's great. I'll be able to sleep, then."

Troy walked me to the classroom in silence. Truth be told, I didn't really feel like talking. It was strain on my through and in my head. Civil conversations would lead to friendship. No. I couldn't do that. I was already putting Zac in danger. Everyone who grew close to me turned bad or died in the end: Juan and my mom died, and my dad and all my friends turned on me, becoming villains in the process. I couldn't let more people suffer.

He opened the door for me and I stumbled in, my cap almost falling off. I straightened it and looked at the ground.

"Ms. Darbus, this…" he trailed off.

"Name's not important," I said stiffly.

"Okay. You can sit in the middle back," Ms. Darbus instructed me.

She was an aging woman with whitish-blondish hair and the most colorful glasses to be made. She was dressed in who know what and she had an overly-theatric voice.

I saw people stare at me as I took a seat in the chair at the back. How creepy.

"Good morning, class. Today, we will be studying about the horrors and the hells, cell phones put you through. A cell phone is of no use. Why not just talk face to face? Why do you have to share your life with the world? A new social media app called 'Instagram' is being released tomorrow and the reviews terrify me to the point that I almost had a heart attack! See, one review said that…" I couldn't bear to listen to that.

To be honest, I was going to be the first one to get that app tomorrow. It was an experiment to see how many followers I could get while I was already so famous.

RING!

Sheesh. That was loud. I jumped up from my chair and ran out of the room before anyone else and ran to the nearest bathroom. I locked a stall and took out my iPhone X from my pocket. I could've screamed at the messages Zac had sent me.

 _Has school started?_

 _How's it going?_

 _Have you told anyone yet?_

 _What classes are you in?_

 _You should sign up for theatre. You'd be a great blessing to the school._

 _Tell me the kids are treating you well._

 _ANSWER ME!_

Wow. He went full out. I replied to him:

 _School has started._

 _Going well._

 _Apparently I'm in Advanced Placement classes… and an extra gym program._

 _No!_

 _Very well. This boy helped me to class. He was nice and didn't ask questions when I didn't answer him properly. God, I'm so rude._

 _Your wish came true._

I unlocked the door of the stall and jumped out. I then when out of the bathroom and collided with someone… very hard. Blue eyes. Why!?

"It's you again, isn't it," I said, not looking up.

"Oh yes, it's me. Hey, didn't you have AP Maths or something?" he asked. I nodded. "I'll take you. I have it too."

So is he a nerd or something?

We turned a corner and I was face to face with a giant poster of basketball players. Right, smack bang in the middle was Troy. Favoritism much? I suddenly burst out laughing.

"Oh my god, that's so funny," I laughed.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. Just something I thought," I replied.

We arrived at the classroom before it was too late and I took a seat next to Troy. Next to me sat an pretty African-American girl.

"Troy, who's this?" she asked.

"Uh… the new girl," he replied.

"No, I mean, what's her name?"

"I don't know," Troy said.

"What do you mean you don't know? Isn't that like the first thing you ask someone you've never met before?" the girl asked.

"Ask her yourself if you want to know," Troy said.

The girl turned to me with a huff and held out her hand.

"Hi, my name is Taylor McKessie and I hope we can be friends," she started.

"Acquaintances," I interrupted, rather rudely.

"Okay?" she raised an eyebrow. "What's your name?"

I didn't reply. I just sat there with my head down and my fingers fiddling in my lap.

"I don't think she wants to tell you," Troy said.

At the rate I was going, it was surprising that they were still being polite to me.

It was lunchtime and I went back to the bathroom and locked myself in a stall. I took out my phone and texted Zac.

 _I can't believe you actually had the guts to leave me at home. I'm so bored. Love you! Zac_

I replied with:

 _I'm sorry. It's lunchtime now and I survived homeroom and maths class. Luv ya too, Gabi_

I walked out of the bathroom and into the cafeteria. It was filled with students sitting around circular table and talking. I looked at the food choice: pie. I went straight to an empty table and sat down, not doing anything.

Suddenly, I felt someone sit next to me. I looked up to see him.

Jacob Platelle.

"We meet again," he said, holding out his hand mockingly.

"What a surprise," I smirked sarcastically and slapped his hand away. "I figured you'd want my autograph and stalk me."

Jacob grinned evilly.

"Nice disguise," he taunted. "You would fit well in the nerd category. Remember when you got that academic award thing every year? You were and still are a geek."

"And then I always had to help you with your schoolwork _and_ homework. Damn those teachers," I glared at him menacingly.

"Do you want me to tell the whole student body your secrets?" he asked.

"Do you want me to tell the whole student body about what you did to me?" I shot back.

"Let's make a deal. I won't say a word if you swear against your life that you won't tell them about me. My reputation is very important to me?" he proposed.

"I swear with my life," I said, crossing my heart. "Why are you here, anyway?"

"Someone accused me of rape so I had to run away to America. I never did that did I?" he replied.

"I swear that wasn't me," I defended myself.

"Then who?"

By now, our noses were barely an inch apart and our eyes glared at each others', shining with pure hatred and anger. This day was going great.

"Ahem," a voice coughed.

I turned my head to see Troy and Taylor looking down at us.

"Bolton and Nerd," Jacob greeted.

"Uh… do you two know each other?" Taylor asked Jacob and me.

I stared at her, appalled.

"Know each other? We're barely strangers," I scoffed.

"That's good," Taylor said shortly. "Come on and sit with us."

I stood up and left, following Troy and Taylor. They led me to a table that occupied a guy with an afro, a tall, dark-skinned boy and a pink girl with blonde hair. I sat down between them. The blonde girl dressed in pinked looked up from painting her nails pink.

"Who's this?" she asked, in a squeaky, high-pitched voice.

"A new friend," Troy said.

"Acquaintance," I interrupted.

"A new acquaintance," Troy corrected himself. "Make her feel welcomed.

The three strangers looked at me oddly.

"And her name is?" the tall, dark-skinned boy asked.

"Not important," I muttered.

"Hey, aren't you going to eat?" the guy with the afro questioned.

I shook my head.

"Why?"

"It's Australian food," I explained and when they looked at me questioningly, I continued. "Bad memories.

"Really?" asked the tall boy. "Then you can have some of my cookies to fill you up."

I refused.

"No, it's okay. I don't want to steal your food," I said.

"Eat," the boy ordered.

I gave in and took a bite. Most celebrity women like me prefer to keep their 'hourglass figure' by not eating. I hated that 'rule' and didn't abide by it. I ate a lot, more than I should.

"Delicious," I said with my mouth full.

"So, you were really good in maths today," Taylor praised. "Why did you choose to come to lousy, old East High, when you could've gone to some academic school?"

"This school's closer," I informed her.

"Where do you live?" she asked.

"I can't say," I said.

"Why not?"

"I live by that rule."

"Do you have any siblings?" Taylor asked.

"No."

"Tay, don't ask anymore," Troy ordered.

Thank you, Lord!

"Do you like basketball?" the guy with the afro asked suddenly.

"No."

"Well, that's too bad. This school's all about basketball. What sports do you like, then?" he asked.

"None," I replied.

"You're taking an extra gym program. How do you not like sport?" Troy asked.

I shrugged. I didn't know how to answer that.

"Wait. We haven't introduced ourselves," the pink girl said. "I'm Sharpay Evans.

"I'm Chad Danforth," said the afro head.

"And I'm Zeke Baylor," said the tall boy who gave me the cookies.

"Nice to meet you," I smiled. They were nice.

All of a sudden, I felt my phone vibrate. I took it out of my pocket and looked. It was Zac.

"Sorry, guys. I have to take this," I apologized, as I hit the answer button. "Hi!"

"Hey, Gabi. I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Zac said.

"No. It's lunch time at the moment," I said.

"Okay. That's great. I called to say that I have a press conference tonight so I won't be home when you get home. I left money for dinner on the table. You can get whatever you want," Zac explained.

I rolled my eyes even though he couldn't see it.

"I'm sixteen and I have a job. I can pay for my own dinner and you don't have to buy it for me," I said.

"Well, I'm your godfather and I'm _supposed_ to pay for this stuff," Zac said and I could tell he was rolling his eyes too.

"Whatever. I'll see you tonight?" I asked.

"Yes, late at night if you're up doing _homework_ ," Zac teased.

"Shut up," I said playfully.

"Anyways, I gotta go now. Love you," he said.

"Love you too," I said, turning off my phone.

I looked up to see all five of them staring at me. That was creepy.

"What?" I asked.

Sharpay's mouth fell open.

"Seriously? You're asking that?" she screeched. "You never told me you were rich!"

"Yeah, that job of yours must pay well," Troy agreed.

I looked at them, confused.

"Me? Rich? Why would you think that?" I asked.

"Your phone. The iPhone X came out this morning and it cost a hell lot of money. Daddy wouldn't get it for me," Sharpay pouted dramatically. What was she? Some sort of spoilt, bratty drama queen?

"I didn't buy it," I said.

"But… then… how?" Chad stuttered.

How was I supposed to lie? I actually got it as a gift after I starred in the iPhone X's advertisement for Apple. It was the first one given out to anyone in the world.

"I… I got it as a gift," I lied. Gosh, I hated lying so much.

"Wow. Whoever gave it to you must be rich," Zeke said.

"Yeah." I forced a laugh.

The table was silent for a while as they ate. Then, Taylor laughed softly.

"Wow, you must really be on top if you have a job," she said. Oh no. "What do you do?"

Seriously? What's with all the questions. Oh yeah. I'm new. Obviously, they would ask questions. I guess I thought for too long because she asked again.

"Um… I asked a question?"

"Oh yeah. It's kind of private," I said. Pathetic.

"You're a very private person," Taylor noted. "Are you ever going to tell us your name?"

"Probably not," I replied simply.

 _RING!_

Finally. The end to all the questions. I had gym now. Not the extra gym class. The compulsory one. It was like a core subject. I followed Troy and the others to the gym. It had a few jerseys hanging from the roof, one labelled 'Bolton.' Typical school to advertise their captain. I saw a man who looked remarkably like Troy walk into the gym.

"Good afternoon, class. I am Coach Bolton," he said that to me. Ah. That's why. He's Troy's father. "I want you to run five laps for our warm up. Go!"

Everyone turned around and began to run around the gym. I straightened my cap and took off. By the second lap, I was nearing the front of the crowd and I wasn't even tired. Maybe those daily runs were good for me. By the fourth lap, I was running behind Troy, who was at the front of the class. On the final lap, we sprinted against each other and tied. I don't think it was supposed to be a race, though.

"You're good," Troy breathed.

"You too," I replied, smirking.

"I'm a basketball player! What do you expect?" he exclaimed. "You aren't. Hell, you don't even like sports!"

"Talent," I said.

He flashed a smile at me.

"Well done…" started Coach Bolton.

"Thank you," I said, cutting him off from asking my name.

He resumed his place at the front of the class and started to instruct us.

"In the middle of every year, we focus on basketball. Basketball is a very important factor that build our school. The basketball team have been working extremely hard to keep their winning streak, right, Troy?" Coach asked.

"Right," Troy said, from next to me.

"Divide yourselves into two teams. Bolton, Danforth, you two are captains," Coach commanded.

"It's on," I heard Chad say to Troy. Boys and their competitiveness.

They both stood apart from each other at the front of the class. For some weird reason, some girls dressed in really showy clothes all rushed to Troy, but he pushed them all away. I saw Chad laugh behind his hand at the sight.

"You wanna choose first?" Troy offered to Chad.

"Why not. I'd better take advantage of that offer," Chad said smartly. What a genius. "Zeke."

"Jason."

"Taylor."

"Stacy."

One of the showy-offy cheerleaders with very artificial-looking, blonde hair ran up to Troy and gave him a big, sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"I've changed my mind," Troy said, immediately. "Go back, Stacy."

"What? You can't kick people off!" Chad sniggered.

Troy groaned and Stacy squealed, giving him another kiss on the other cheek.

"Please stop," Troy whined.

It was Chad's turn again and they took turns until I was the only one left. It was Troy's turn, so he had to pick me.

"Okay. We have the teams now," Coach Bolton said. "Please choose who will be on court and who will be subs."

A bunch off the cheerleaders instantly offered to sit on the bleachers and cheer their team on. Why? They didn't want to break their nails or ruin their hair with sweat? There were only five people left in each team who actually offered to play.

My team: Me, Troy, Jason, Sharpay and Brian.

The other team: Chad, Zeke, Taylor, James and Michelle. How was it going to go?

Apparently, since High School Musical, Zac had continued to play basketball every now and then. He even taught me how to play and not gonna lie, I was pretty good. I was a fast learner so why put that to waste if I had the opportunity to learn so many new things?

 **Author's Note: I hardly know anything about basketball.**

We took our places on court and the whistle blew. Troy got the jump-ball and it flew straight to me. I dribbled a little and passed it to Jason. I ran further towards the net and he passed it back to me. I threw a three-pointer and it soared right through. My team was two up. I kept my head low and I don't think the cheerleaders even bothered to cheer me for my shot.

The next round started and this time Troy scored a basket. The cheerleaders, however, when full out in their cheering. Troy mock bowed and waved royally. Ha. I wasn't really offended. If only they knew who I really was. They game went by really fast and I was sweating by now. I had scored 10 out of the 25 baskets which I was proud of and I hope the coach was too. I was always a straight-A student.

After everyone had gone to the locker rooms to change, I stayed back in the gym for a while. I hadn't brought any clothes to change into and I never stunk from sweat. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"You never told me you were amazing at basketball," I heard Troy say. Wow, he had changed fast. Maybe he had trained at that too.

"Again, I have no one to compare to," I shrugged.

"You're really good. How did you learn?" he asked me.

"From the same person I was on the phone with," I said indirectly.

"Who was?" he kept going.

"Someone…" I said, not rudely, but… mysteriously. Yes. Mysteriously was the word. "What do you have next?"

"Performing Arts."

"Me too," I said. "Can you show me?"

"Sure."

We walked into the corridor and turned corners multiple times until we reached the theatre. It was a nice building and definitely could be used for musicals and other performances. It looked like it had good acoustics as it was large and the walls were smooth, which could make nice echoey sounds. We sat down in the audience.

"Apparently, Ms. Darbus thought it would be fun if we had a break from all this script writing and performing and stuff," Troy said, as we sat down. "So, today, we're going to have a karaoke sessions."

Oh. I was doomed. My singing voice was a dead giveaway to my identity. It was kinda high pitched and girlish and that was like my watermark.

Did I really have to do this?


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I hope you like it! Please review!**

 **Bold: Author's Note/ Other**

Normal: Present

 _Italics: Flashback/ Song lyrics/ Texts_

Gabriella's P.O.V.

"Good afternoon, young thespians," I heard Ms. Darbus say from the back of the theatre. "You all performed exceptionally well in your script making assessment so as I said last lesson, today we are going to have a karaoke. Choose a partner of the opposite gender and you will sing a duet from the list that I have."

I saw Troy make eye contact with me and subtly nodded. I wonder how his voice sounded. One thing I absolutely hated was when I was partners up with someone who was worse than me at something. I know it's selfish of me, but it always brought my grade lower. For a while, I hated my voice because it sounded unnaturally high, but after I ventured into the entertainment industry, I learned to embrace it. I had starred in a few musical-movies so my voice was well know in the world.

Another exciting event in my life was that a recording label had offered to let me sing and record an album for them. I had never actually made up my own songs before or done stand-alone songs that weren't part of a movie.

"I trust you have all chosen your partners," Ms. Darbus called, whipping me out of my daydream. "Danforth and McKessie. Your group is up first."

Chad and Taylor both made their way up to the stage where two microphones were place. That just made the whole experience scarier. I saw them looking over a sheet of paper, probably the song list. They both agreed on something and went back to the microphones, each standing behind one.

"Here's our first performance of 'Rewrite the Stars' from the Greatest Showman," Ms. Darbus started to applaud.

Oh, damn. There were Greatest Showman Songs? I knew all of them off by heart since I had heard Zac practicing at home. To be honest, the Chad and Taylor's performance was pretty good. It was much higher than average, but not world-recognition worthy.

"Miss and Mr. Evans?" Ms. Darbus said loudly.

Sharpay had a twin brother?

They strode up to the stage and looked at the paper before nodding. Sharpay looked like she was really enthusiastic and excited.

"Our next performance will be of the song 'What I've been looking for' from High School Musical," Ms. Dabrus introduced.

High School Musical too? These songs were all too familiar.

Not gonna lie, Sharpay and her brother were amazing at singing. Clearly, they were used to the spotlight, almost as if they were made for it. Some competition I had. The audience all clapped.

"Miss. Brighton, here, has offered to do a solo. She will be singing 'You belong with me' by Taylor Swift," Ms. Darbus said.

I saw the girl called Stacy who kissed Troy in gym walk up onto the stage, wearing her skirt higher on her waist and it looked like she had cut off the bottom of her crop top. What?

Oh my god. She really, really, really needs help.

Her singing sounded like a wolf howling and I'm pretty sure it was directed at Troy.

I looked at Troy and he looked appalled at the sound of her voice.

"She need lessons," Troy whispered to me, leaning over.

"Agreed," I mumbled back, nodding.

Stacy giggled as she finished the song, or should I say, call for other wolves, and she did a little, girly curtsy that made her skirt travel further up her thighs. I swore I saw her underwear; I'm not even kidding. She waved at Troy and smiled, showing off her perfectly lipsticked lips.

"That was an… interesting performance," Ms. Darbus said. "Troy and your partner? You are next."

We both stood up at the same time.

Breathe.

We made our way to the stage.

Breathe.

I think this will be my final day of school.

Breathe.

Okay, I'll stop with the breathing, it's getting annoying now.

Ms. Darbus handed us the list and I looked at it. It was full of Greatest Showman songs, High School Musical song and Taylor Swift's break up songs.

"I'm all up for 'Start of Something New'," I suggested.

"I can sing that," Troy said.

"Do you know the harmony?" I asked.

Harmonies were very important to me and a person who didn't know it disgusted me.

"Of course," he said.

So he's a musical, nerdy, sporty person like me? Oh, what similarities we find in… acquaintances.

"Let's do it."

We stood behind our microphones as the music started to play and Troy began to sing.

 _Living in my own world_

 _Didn't understand_

 _That anything can happen_

 _When you take a chance_

His smooth voice sounded from the speakers and I was happy. Like literally elated. My partner had a great voice! Oh my god. But then it was my turn to sing…

 _I never believed in  
What I couldn't see_ _  
_ _I never opened my heart  
_ _T_ _o all the possibilities  
Ooh_

I got that right. Then we sang together in perfect harmony… just like Sharpay and Ryan. Wait. I shouldn't compare myself to high school theatre kids. I was a singer for crying out loud!

 _I know_ _  
_ _That something has changed_ _  
_ _Never felt this way_ _  
_ _And right here, tonight_

Chorus!

 _This could be the start  
Of something new  
_ _It feels so right_ _  
_ _T_ _o be here with you, oh  
And now  
Looking in your eyes  
_ _I feel in my heart_ _  
The start of something new  
_ _Oh, yeah_

 _Now who'd have ever thought that, mmm  
We'd both be here tonight? Oh  
Yeah_

 _And the world looks so much brighter (brighter, brighter)  
Oh_

 _With you by my side (by my side)_

 _I know_

 _That something has changed  
Never felt this way  
I know it for real_

 _This could be the start_

 _Of something new  
It feels so right_

 _To be here with you, oh  
And now_

 _Looking in your eyes  
I feel in my heart_

 _The start of something new_

 _I never knew that it could happen, 'til it happened to me  
Oh, yeah  
I didn't know it before_

 _But now it's easy to see_

 _Oh_

 _It's the start_

 _Of something new  
It feels so right_

 _To be here with you, oh  
And now_

 _Looking in your eyes  
I feel in my heart_

 _That it's the start_

 _Of something new  
It feels so right (so right _

_To be here with you, oh  
And now,_

 _Looking in your eyes (looking in your eyes)  
I feel in my heart (feel in my heart)  
The start of something new (the start of something new)  
The start of something new_

That felt great…

It really did.

I used to sing everyday to warm up my voice and I had the chance to do it at school. I just hoped that no one would recognise my voice.

"Bravo! Brava!" Ms. Darbus congratulated our performance as she clapped around the air in a circle.

Troy and I bowed and walked off the stage.

"Dude, you never told me you could sing!" I heard Chad call from the audience.

I also glimpsed Stacy glaring at me angrily because I had 'stolen Troy from her.' Not my fault that _he_ wanted to be partners with me in the first place. We sat down in the chairs and listened to everyone else perform.

This was the last class of the day and I was happy to be going home. It was stressful at school: keeping my identity private, staying away from Platelle, trusting the right people, not accidentally saying something wrong.

 _RING!_

Home time at last. As we were walking out, Troy spoke to me.

"You never told me you could sing," he said.

"You never asked," I said.

"So do you take singing lessons or something?" he asked.

"Nah. I only sing in movies," I said.

Oh. My. God. Did I just say that?

"Movies?" he questioned.

"I mean, when I watch movies, I always sing along to their songs," I lied.

Nice save, Gabriella.

"Understandable," he said.

We walked to our neighbouring lockers in silence and grabbed our bags. I slammed my locker door accidentally and jumped at the sound.

"So, do you want to join me and our friends at Sharpay's house tonight?" Troy asked suddenly.

"A party?" I asked.

"No. Just a little get together. We like to do that sometimes," he explained.

"Okay," I agreed.

There was an awkward silence.

"Can I have your number?" Troy asked.

Wow. Unexpected question. I pondered over that thought.

"You have to promise to not tell anyone," I told him, somewhat threateningly.

"Okay," he seemed a little shocked from my rule.

Celebrities should never give out their number to random strangers, but I felt like Troy could be trusted… a little.

I put my number into his phone and he gave it a test run. It worked. My life is great.

At 4 o'clock, I grabbed my house keys and headed to Sharpay's house in my Audi S8. It was a very nice car and I was very thankful that I had the money to buy it. No, I didn't get it as a present from Zac.

I parked on the roadside and looked up at her house. It was almost a mansion. If anything, it could be a mansion. It had these marble pillars at the front and a grand, ebony door. The house must have cost a fortune.

I rang the doorbell it was instantly swung open by Sharpay. She ran up to me and gave me a huge bear hug, knocking off my cap in the process. As soon as she let go, I ducked and grabbed it, straightening it on my head. No, I couldn't risk that.

"I'm so glad you could make it," she smiled warmly.

"I'm glad I could come," I replied.

She showed me inside and I saw many photographs of her family. I felt a tinge of jealousy that she was riched, but not only that, she was also loved by her family. My mom didn't care for me enough and she killed herself. My dad, abused me and… yeah. We entered a very spacious living room where Chad, Taylor, Zeke, Ryan and Troy already sat.

"Make yourself at home," Sharpay said, as she sat on the couch next to Zeke.

Soon, an oven beep sounded from wherever the kitchen was and a creak was heard as someone opened the oven door. I could hear the sliding of a baking tray on the rack and a clang as the tray was placed on the counter.

"Kids, cookies will be ready soon," I heard someone say. It was probably Sharpay's mum.

"Awesome!" Chad cheered. Everyone laughed.

"Chad has this weird obsession with food," Troy explained.

I nodded.

"So, what do you usually do at these meetings?" I asked.

"Meeting? This is not a meeting. No where close to one, in fact. The purpose of this get together is to hang out, get to know each other more and share secrets," Sharpay informed me.

"Share secrets?" I questioned.

"Of course, only if you're comfortable sharing them. We strictly say that no one can pressure anyone to tell their deepest and darkest secrets, however, a day to do that would be fabulous!" Sharpay giggled. "We're going to start off with the game: Truth or Dare!"

Dear God, please make me only get dares!

"The way this works," Zeke started. "Is: We start off non-dirty and as the game goes on, we can start asking for more. Is that okay?"

Everyone nodded.

Was this going to be the end of me and my façade? Hopefully not.

"I bags going first!" Chad volunteered himself. "Sharpay, truth or dare?"

"Truth!"

"What is the most amount of money you've spent on a shopping spree?"

Sharpay started to count her fingers.

"$589265.92," Sharpay finally said.

Wait, what?

"Sharpay is a shopaholic," Taylor told me.

"Explains a lot," I said, as I eyed her pink outfit, covered in glitter. She had designer shoes and a rather expensive looking hand bag.

 **Author's Note: Instead of going through the whole game, I'm just going to list the truths and dares.**

This I learned about my new acquaintances:

Chad goes to a celebrity hairdresser for his hair.

Taylor failed science in sixth grade.

Troy is scared of spiders and snakes.

Zeke blew up his mum's kitchen once.

Sharpay goes shopping for 3 hours after school everyday.

Ryan has a collection of over 100 hats.

Chad has had 5 girlfriends in the past year (excluding Taylor.)

Taylor parties without permission.

Troy has never dated before (though all the girls want him.)

Zeke gave cookies to Sharpay to tell her that he liked her.

Sharpay has kissed a girl before.

Ryan had to kiss 10 girls in one musical.

And the last thing I learned was that I was really paranoid.

This my new acquaintances had to do:

Chad had to eat a hot cookie.

Taylor had to make out with the door handle.

Troy had to drench himself with milk.

Zeke had to take the coldest shower.

Sharpay had to cut a nail.

Ryan had to take off his hat for the rest of the game.

"New girl, truth or dare," Sharpay said.

I looked up.

"Truth."

"Who was your first kiss?" Sharpay asked.

I instantly had a coughing fit.

"You good?" Chad asked when I finished it.

"Yeah," I struggled to get out.

"The answer?" Sharpay pushed further.

"Uh… my godfather," I answered.

I stared at them as their eyes bulged out of their eyes.

"Does that count as incest?" Chad coughed.

I shook my head.

"I kissed him before I he became my godfather," I explained.

"Wait. Hold up," Chad began. "Don't you get a godfather when you're born?"

I nodded.

"But he's not really my godfather. He just wanted a higher title," I informed them.

They all eyed me curiously as if I was hiding something, which I was, but I wasn't going to let anyone know that soon.

"Troy," I said. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," he replied.

I paused in thought.

"If you could have sex with any celebrity, who would you do it with?" I asked slyly.

"Ooh," was heard from someone who remarkably sounded like Chad.

"Uh," Troy coughed. "There are a lot of females that I'd like to do it with."

"Wow," I said. "Choose one."

Troy stared at the ceiling while he thought over his answer.

"We don't have all day," Taylor pushed on.

"Probably… Gabriella Montez," Troy said. "She's hot."

I collapsed in coughing fit while everyone stared at me.

"Sorry," I struggled. "I just can't imagine why you'd want to do that with her? She's really ugly and I hate her."

Obviously, you know that I was talking about myself, but I hated myself so much. Luckily, or unluckily, no one knew that it was me.

"How can you say that about her?" Sharpay glared at me. "Do you even know her?"

I nodded.

"Of course I do. She's so ugly, show-offy, fake and I can go on and on. I just hate her so much that I want her to jump off a cliff without her body getting discovered. Explain much? "I said darkly.

"Do you know how badly I want to be friends with her? Or even meet her?" Sharpay asked.

"Keep talking like that and she'll never even consider being your friend," I told her, pushing my cap lower on my head.

"Don't make other people's decisions, new girl," Taylor warned.

"Why would I do that?" I questioned. "I just hate her and I can say anything about her that I want. Gosh, I have such a low self-esteem."

I chuckled evilly.

"What?" Chad asked. "That doesn't even make sense."

"Don't worry about Chad," Taylor said. "He doesn't understand anything, hence why he's failing school."

"Don't change the subject, Taylor," Zeke said. "New girl, why are you so bitter to Gabriella Montez? Would you say that stuff about anyone? If I asked you about… Zac Efron, would you say that?"

"Zac Efron?" I asked.

"Yeah, do you know him?" Zeke asked.

"Know him? Of course I know him!" I almost screamed.

"We can start a fan club! Do you know where he lives? I really want to meet him!" Sharpay squealed. Has she already forgotten about my hate for Gabriella Monez, aka me?

I winced at that. I really didn't want a fan club of Sharpays running around in my front yard. That would be so embarrassing and I'd have to hide in my room for hours until they left.

"New girl?" Sharpay waved her hand in front of my face.

I blinked.

"Yeah? What?" I asked.

"I said we should start a fan club," Sharpay repeated.

"What? No. Absolutely not," I held my hand up.

"Why not?" Sharpay looked hurt. I felt a teeny bit bad.

"I'm sure Zac would hate us running around his front yard and knocking on doors to meet him," I said carefully.

"The question is, how far would you go to meet him?" Troy asked.

"Not very," I replied.

"How? Do you know how many people love Zac Efron? More so, do you know how many people love Gabriella Montez?" Zeke asked.

"The first part might be true, but _no one_ loves Gabriella Montez," I said, as I stood up.

"Where are you going?" Taylor asked.

"Home," I half-glared at my new acquaintances.

Then I spun around and headed out the door, speed walking to my room until I flopped onto my bed and took my phone out of my pocket. I ordered some pizza for myself (with my own money) and rested, thinking.

Was it really true that people loved me? No. They were just fans. Fans made their idols notice them so they would get shout outs. Getting a shout out on social media by a celebrity is special and that is how some people get famous. The fans weren't real. They just wanted fame, and they get that by using their 'so called idols.' Everything was fake in my life. Everything except for Zac.

Zac was the only one who actually cared for me. He was like the father I never had. We spent so much time together that anyone else would get sick of it, but not us. He was the only one who loved me and the only one I loved. Don't get me wrong, I still love my family, but it's so hard to knowing that your parents don't love you back. I will always have a special place for them in my heart.

My brother, Juan, was a different story. He didn't choose to leave me or abuse me. If anything, it was my fault that he died. It was my birthday so we had to go out. If we hadn't had gone out, we wouldn't have been targeted. We'd still be one happy family.

Can you see how everything is my fault?

I'll not deny that I'm a murderer, because I am. Have I ever thought of how the world would function so much better without me? Yes, I have. That has been on my mind for ages. I was only suicidal for a month, until Zac talked me out of it. He told me that if I killed myself, it would affect others so much. So much, that I didn't even know it. He said that if I did it, he would take his life too because it was fair. So, I decided not to, just to spare his innocent life. My life? Not so innocent?

I was the definition of a murderer. I was the definition of a burden to the world and other people. I was the definition of fake. Nothing was really in my world, except for Zac.

Little did I know that was going to change.

After eating my pizza, I was so full that I fell asleep. When I woke up, the pizza box had disappeared and I think Zac had come to check on me and had thrown the box away. See? That's what I mean. He cares enough to bother to throw the box away for me.

The first thing I did every morning was to go on my phone and check social media, but when I turned on my phone, I saw the date.

January 29.

Today was my mom's 40th birthday.

A tear rolled down my face as I opened the app store. Today was also the day that Instagram came out, according to Ms. Darbus. I clicked he download button and decided that my first post would be a birthday wish to my dead mother.

I entered my name into the sign up page and created an account. This would be the 'official Gabriella Montez' account that anyone could follow. A test to see how many fans wanted to use me to become famous. Oh, happy days. Catch the sarcasm?

The app was very much like Facebook and you could add stories. I took a blank picture and dragged a sticker onto the screen. I wrote 'Happy Birthday Mama,' and posted it.

When I refreshed the page, I was surprised that I already had 500 new followers. Needy much? They really wanted that fame didn't they? I got out of bed and washed my face. I put my face cream and my usual hoodie. Usually, one would wear black on a mourning day, but I only wore black on Juan's birthday because that was a death caused by me. In reality, my mom's death was also caused by me, but Juan's was more direct. I also placed the cap on my head and my unnecessary glasses on again. Way to hide my identity. Yeah, right…I hopped downstairs and saw Zac cooking again. I probably shouldn't say that because he's been doing that for the past 2 years.

"Morning. You ate the whole pizza last night?" He asked, not looking at me.

"Yup. You proud?" I asked. "What are you making?"

"Scones…" he said slowly, waiting to see if I would answer.

"Mom's favorite," I said quietly.

"I hope you don't mind. I made it in remembrance, because I miss her too," Zac told me, placing a plate of scones in front of me.

"Thanks," I whispered. "I miss her so much."

Silent tears fell down my face and landed on the table.

"Zac, why would she do that to herself?" I asked, softly.

Zac sat down in the chair opposite me, as usual and took a bite out of his scone.

"Heartbreak," was all he said.

"What?"

"Some people can't deal with heartbreak. When your brother died," my heart clenched, "she was filled with guilt and sorrow. Guilt that she couldn't save him and sorrow because she had just lost her child. The child she loved with all her heart."

"Does that mean… that I don't love enough?" I asked fearfully.

"You love too much," Zac said simply.

"What? No I don't. I never wanted to kill myself after… Juan… died. I never felt that sort of heartbreak to make me kill myself," I said.

"You did," Zac reminded. "I forced you not too."

That was true. I did try to kill myself once.

 _Flashback_

 _I was 14 years old and it had been one month since I had begun to reside in Zac's house. My days were still full of sadness and depression. I had stopped eating willingly. Zac had to force food down my throat, but I never ate unless I was told to. I had lost a considerable amount of weight._

 _Another key reason for my depression was that I hadn't found any acting jobs yet. I had gone to a few auditions, but they all turned me down. I was lost. I had no hope and no future. I hadn't been to school because of my depression and I had no friends. It was only Zac. It wouldn't hurt Zac if I killed myself now, right? Surely, he didn't love me enough to stop me. Sure, he had been devoted to keeping me healthy, but he wouldn't be able to stop me from taking my own life._

 _It was 1am and I was still lying in my bed, I couldn't sleep, not with all these suicidal thoughts running through my head. I hadn't had a good sleep since before my brother died. Suddenly, I had an amazing, but deranged thought. I would kill myself now, while everyone was asleep. I put on my day clothes and left my phone on my bedside table. People who found me wouldn't need to know my identity. I snuck out the door, and it creaked ever so slightly. Not enough to wake someone up._

 _It was still Summer, therefore, not being cold, but it was quite humid. Dust stuck to my bare arms as I walked down the dark street. There was a streetlight every now any then to let me see where I was going. And I knew where I was going. Zac had taken me to a beautiful place a few days ago. I was too beautiful for death, but I was going to change that._

 _It was arranged like this: There was a dusty cliff that showed a clear, blue lake below if you stood on the edge of it. If you jumped off it, you wouldn't land in the lake. No, you would land on the sharp rocks in front of the lake. The rocks shaped the whole lake. They were like the icing. The lake was the filling of the cake, but the rocks added flavour. Beauty._

 _I took slow and steady steps towards the edge of the cliff. It was so beautiful at night. The lake glistened below and the rocks lit up the whole area. Some might say that rocks were dull and boring, but these rocks begged to differ. They were the definition of beauty. I stood on the edge of the cliff breathing heavily. Lucky there weren't people around because I sure as hell did not look like a person admiring scenery. I looked like a person who was about to jump. All of a sudden, I heard it. The voice of someone who cared for me. That was all I needed._

" _Don't you dare," Zac's voice reached my ears._

 _I turned around to face him with tears in my eyes. My dead, curly hair fluttered in the air around my pale, sleep-deprived face. At any moment, I could lean back and fall, but he stopped me. Just seeing his face stopped me. All I needed was to know that someone loved me, enough to stop me from leaving them._

" _I can't take it anymore," I whispered, as Zac took steps towards me._

" _No one's jumping on my watch," Zac said._

" _I wasn't going to jump, I was going to lean back," I replied._

 _Zac was now in front of me._

" _As long as I am alive, you will stay alive and you can't stop me from saving you every time," he breathed. His blue eyes shone with sadness and I could swear that the factory behind them was busy creating tears._

" _Don't die on me," I mumbled, stepping into his embrace._

" _Same goes for you," he said, hugging me tightly._

 _I pushed him away, rather harshly._

" _I can't promise you that. Life's too hard," I told him, turning around._

" _What do you think you're doing?" Zac's sharp voice rung in my ears._

 _I stared at the rocks._

" _Removing the burden of me, Gabriella Montez, from your shoulders. Once this is complete, you don't have to feel obliged to save me. You don't have to pretend to care for me. You're forced to," I whispered against the wind._

" _And you think I'm putting up an act?" Zac laughed dryly. "Just because I'm an actor doesn't mean I pretend all the time. You know what? I think you're pushing me away. You don't trust that I am genuinely caring for you. I'm not doing it because I have to. I want to. If I didn't want to, I wouldn't have flown to Australia to bring you here. If I didn't want to, I would have sent you to an adoption centre. If I didn't want to, I would have let you suffer, but I didn't."_

 _I shook my head and laughed bitterly._

" _People are all the same. People don't just care for you because they want to. They do it because they want to seem good. They do it so other people will look up to them. You know, whenever I went to church, Dad would pretend to love me and care for me. He would pretend to be the perfect father, but as soon as I arrived home, he would rape me all over again. There were times where he put up such a great show of love, that I would be filled with false hope that he would be changed. Did that happen? No, never. He threatened that if I told anyone, he would make my life hell. That's why I never told anyone, but would they care? No. All my friends left me. My own mother left me. My brother died on me and my dad turned on me. It's as if my presence in the world is what causes everyone to hate it. The world is so much better without me," I said._

 _By now, I was shaking with tears. Shaking so hard that I could fall off the cliff._

" _You know, Gabriella, you are broken. Deep down inside, under all this depression that you have, you know that people care for you. I do, and I want you to know that. If you jump, I will too," Zac said, sadly._

 _I was taken aback by that. Why would he want to jump? He had everything, fame, a loving family and money. That couldn't go to waste, so I started to doubt his words._

" _You're just saying that," I said._

" _No, I'm not. I will and once you get to heaven, I'll be the next customer. I'm telling you, people care for you and it would be even more of a burden if you died. We would all be full of guilt because you thought we didn't care. Truth is, we do and nothing can change that," Zac said._

 _I was still staring below the cliff, but I stepped backwards. I followed Zac to his car and we went home. From then on, I believed his words. What was the world without love anyway?_

 _End flashback_

"You're not still considering it, are you?" Zac asked.

"Of course not," I lied. "Why would I?"

"I'm not blind," Zac said. "Don't tell me my words didn't have some sort of effect on you."

"They had so much. If they didn't, I wouldn't have spared my life for 2 and a half years," I sobbed.

Zac got up from his seat, took my hand and brought me to the couch where he hugged me.

"Come here," he said, sweetly. "This isn't a day to think about it. If you did kill yourself, you would pass on you feelings to me. All the emotions you felt when Maria shot herself would replace the ones I am feeling now."

"Okay. I won't" I said.

After that, we just sat on the bed and cried until it was time to go to school.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: I hope you like it! Please review!**

 **Bold: Author's Note/ Other**

Normal: Present

 _Italics: Flashback/ Song lyrics/ Texts_

 _I walked to school with my head down low, not bothering to look at the road for cars when I crossed, or cyclists who rang their bells. My face was pale and tear stained. My hair stuck to my face and I looked extremely ugly. Luckily, the fake glasses didn't magnify my swollen eyes and my cap covered everything up. Today was going to be the death of me._

 _"New girl!" I heard a girly voice squeal. It was Sharpay._

 _I hastily ran away to the other side of the school. I wasn't in the mood to talk to Troy and his friends. I stumbled across a door that would lead to my exit. I turned the door knob and ran up the stairs. I gasped in awe at the beautiful sight in front of me. It was almost as beautiful as the rocks and lake beneath the cliff._

 _It wasn't a typical roof, for starters. There were garden beds with so many beautiful flowers planted in the soil. Benches surrounded the place and it looked like such a great spot to relax and enjoy time alone. Then I spotted a person sitting on a bench. The back view of this person looked remarkably like Troy's. The same sandy, brown hair. He was wearing his basketball jersey with his surname printed and the number '14' printed on it._

 _"Troy," I whispered._

 _Troy turned around and smiled at me. He tapped the space next to him, inviting me to sit with him. I held his gaze as I sat next to him and it was silent._

 _Silence._

 _"Why were you crying?" he asked unexpectedly._

 _"Crying?" I laughed bitterly. "Why would you think that?"_

 _He turned to face me and lifted my cap a little. So much for hiding my identity. Maybe it was the makeup I wore that defined as the 'famous Gabriella Montez.' The 'Normal, broken Gabriella Montez' hated wearing makeup._

 _"Tear stains," he mumbled. "Why?"_

 _"Something…" I stuttered. "Something happened in my life."_

 _"I'm sorry," he apologised. "I didn't mean to push."_

 _Gosh. He's so understanding._

 _"Why are_ _you_ _up here?" I asked him._

 _He laughed shortly._

 _"Minor misunderstanding."_

 _I raised an eyebrow and urged him to keep going._

 _"Long story short: Chad told my dad that I was good at singing and my dad got mad because he thought singing was my new hobby," Troy snorted. "My dad thinks basketball should be the_ _only_ _thing I do. The_ _only_ _thing I like. Then he told me that I had to do 100 more suicides as a consequence of being good at singing."_

 _"So he thinks that you should only focus on basketball and nothing else?" I asked._

 _"Yeah. He doesn't care about my grades or my other extracurricular activities. Heck! He doesn't even care about girls I hook up with. He_ _only_ _cares about basketball," Troy said._

 _We sat there for a little longer._

 _"What is this place?" I finally questioned._

 _"This. This is the science club's secret garden," Troy informed me._

 _"And your dad doesn't care that you're in the science club?" I asked._

 _"I'm not in the science club. I just stumbled across it while running away from Sharpay," I snorted at that. What a coincidence. "This is like my secret hideout. None of my friends know about it except for Taylor who's in the science club, but she doesn't know I come here. So what brought you here?"_

 _I laughed._

 _"Believe it or not, I was also running away from Sharpay. I wasn't really in the mood to talk before," I admitted._

 _Troy made a move to stand up._

 _"Oh, sorry!" He apologised. "Do you want me to go so you can be alone?"_

 _I touched his hand and pulled him down again._

 _"Troy, chill. I would love your company," I reassured him. "This place is beautiful."_

 _"I know. It's the place I come to when I argue with my dad or my friends. The flowers and stuff… they calm me down. You could come here when you want to as well," Troy offered._

 _"I don't want to steal your secret hideout," I declined his offer._

 _"_ _Our_ _secret hideout," he corrected me._

 _I smiled at that. He was so sweet._

 _"I want to know more about you," Troy said, suddenly._

 _I jumped at that statement. At first, I thought that he wanted to know all about my public life, but then I realised that he just wanted to know about my favourite colour and stuff like that._

"What do you want to know?" I asked.

"What are your hobbies?" he questioned.

I didn't have much hobbies. I would've said acting, but that would give me away.

"I don't know. Singing?" I replied.

Singing didn't give away much.

"I'm not surprised," Troy said. "You were amazing yesterday. What else are you good at? You're smart, sport and a great singer. You'd make a great singer. Along with singing comes acting though. Do you like acting. Sharpay would kill you if you did."

"Sharpay can kill me then," I said, but then I mumbled so softly, "Better than living anyway."

"What was that?"

"Nothing," I lied. "What else do you want to know."

"Why do you hate Gabriella Montez so much?"

Dang. He's hitting me in all the right places. I didn't answer.

"Have you even met her? Damn, you'd be so lucky meet her," Troy said.

I laughed sharply again. I hadn't met myself yet. Hell, I didn't even know who I was yet? Was I really that much of a broken person?

"A person would be cursed if they met Gabriella Montez, let alone grow close to her," I retorted. "Did you know that Gabriella Montez was why her brother, Juan died? Did you know that because Juan died, her mother committed suicide from heartbreak. Did you know that her father turned bad because of her? Did you know that all her friends turned on her because that was the right thing to do? She's a murderer, Troy! Everything is because of her and she's just a burden to the world."

I laughed at my own low self-esteem. I _did_ believe that I was a murderer because it was true. If Juan hadn't had died, my mother wouldn't have killed herself and my father wouldn't have turned bad. If I wasn't born, they would still be a happy family. It was _all_ because of me.

"Do you do this to everyone?" Troy asked flatly.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Find all their faults and then call them a bad person," he explained.

"No," I answered.

"So you just target Gabriella Montez? Even if I don't know her, I still think it's quite mean that you say things about her like that."

"Do you want to know her?" I asked.

"Maybe," he replied. "I love her movies."

"Really?" I scoffed. "Her movies are ruined because _she's_ in them."

"I disagree with you right there, new girl. How can you say stuff like that about others?" Troy flared.

"I never say stuff about others," I said, confusing him.

With that, I stood up and exited the rooftop garden.

After school, I decided to go for a run. A nice long one to rid my mind of all my problems. My mom, my friends, Troy. They were all problems. I had ran for about 5 miles until I came across a park overlooking a lake. There was a comfortable looking bench under the shade of a tree and I sat down on it. I still had my cap and glasses on so people wouldn't recognise me. I took out my phone from my pocket and opened Instagram. 2000 new followers. I rolled my eyes. Fake people were what the world was made up of. So many people had direct messaged me a happy birthday to my mom. No one knew, however, that she was dead. No one knew that my I lived with Zac to escape my dad. No one even knew I had a brother.

"New girl!" I heard Troy's voice.

Crap.

I turned around and smiled weakly at him. He was dressed in running clothes and looked really sweaty. Did I mention that he looked _hot_ when he was sweaty?

"Hey," I cracked a grin.

"What'cha doin' here?" he puffed as he caught his breath.

"Taking a break," I replied.

"From?"

"Running," I said.

"I thought you didn't like sport," he remembered.

"It's not for fitness purposes. I have to look good and thin," I explained vaguely.

"Why?" he questioned.

"I'm obliged to," I answered.

Why does he ask so many questions? Oh yeah right. He doesn't know my name. Of course he would ask questions. Fortunately, he quickly changed the subject.

"Wanna run with me?" he suggested.

"Why not," I smiled, getting up from the bench.

We jogged for a steady 5 miles until we reached a café. It was my favourite one and the waiters all knew me. If I went in with Troy, he would find out who I was, nonetheless, I decided to risk it.

"Do you want food? This is my favourite café," I told him.

"Okay," he shrugged.

I turned the doorknob and a bell sounded, notifying a waiter that they had a new customer or a customer was leaving. The café was very homely with couches instead of chairs and vintage looking tabletops. A tall whiteboard stood near the counter, displaying all the specialities of the day. A waiter had already come up to us. Unfortunately, he recognised me straight away since I always wore the same cap and glasses as my disguise.

"Good afternoon…"

I clamped my hand over his mouth and glared at him, making Troy look at me weirdly.

"Don't say a word," I said, flicking my eyes over to Troy.

He seemed to get the message because he rushed us over to an empty table that was already clear of food.

"Your menus," the waiter said, placing two old menus in front of us.

"Thanks," Troy thanked politely.

The waiter scurried away to tend to another table and I opened up the menu to see if there was anything new.

"The waffles are good," I said aloud. "So is the hot chocolate; it even includes marshmallows."

I didn't hear Troy reply so I looked up to see him studying me. Stalker much?

"Why are you hiding?" he asked.

"What?" I blinked confusedly.

"What is so important to hide from the school that you can't even tell us your name?" he explained.

"My whole life," I replied, mumbling.

At that moment, the waiter came back to us and took our orders. The thing I like about this café was that our orders come nearly straight away. Sure enough, my hot chocolate and waffles and Troy's food came right away. We dug in.

"Why were you crying today?" Troy said suddenly. "You lied this morning."

I bit my lip.

"It's my mom's 40th birthday today," I confessed. "She'll be celebrating it in heaven."

I crossed my fingers and begged God to make him say something other than 'I'm sorry.'

"I know what you're thinking and crossing your fingers doesn't work," Troy smirked.

"That proves something," I said.

"What?"

"That you're not trying to be nice out of pity," I explained.

"I'm not a fake person," Troy shrugged.

"Fans are fake," I blurted.

"That's completely off the topic," Troy said.

"I know?"

"Why'd you say that?" he asked.

"Instagram," I replied bluntly.

"It came out today. Ms. Darbus hated it yesterday," Troy chuckled, taking out his phone. "I should see what it is."

"It's like Facebook. Sharing your life with fake people," I said.

"Wait till you see Sharpay's Facebook. She posts other peoples' stuff. Plagiarism," Troy said. "You post much?"

I shook my head.

"I'm not interested in sharing my life with the world," I said, sipping my hot chocolate.

"You don't seem the type," Troy noted.

"We'll see," I grinned, slyly.

"Email, phone number, username, password. Gosh, this app asks for so many personal details," Troy complained, as he set up his account. "Want a follow?"

I shook my head again.

"Got too many," I turned down his offer, mainly because I didn't want him to see who I was.

I took out my phone and opened Instagram myself. Wow, 500 more fake followers.

"Pffft, fake people," I muttered.

Troy looked up.

"Does Instagram have fake people who follow you? I'm making my account private then," he said.

"Good idea," I said.

"Is yours?" he asked.

"No," I said shortly. "I'm using this app as a test to see how many fake people Instagram sends to follow me."

"How many do you have now?" he questioned.

"'Bout 3000," I answered honestly.

Troy gawked at me, rather amusingly. I stifled a laugh behind my hand.

"You're joking, right?" he asked. "This app can't have that many fake people, can it?"

"Apparently so," I lied.

It almost killed me to lie _so_ much to him, but it's understandable that I am obligated to. I couldn't let the whole student body know who I was. This was an offer to live life like a normal teenager and I was going to take it. I didn't fully trust Troy yet and I didn't know whether he would tell everyone if I told him my identity.

"New girl?" Troy waved his hand in front of my face and I blinked. "You alright?"

I nodded.

"Sorry, just zoned out for a second. Happens a lot," I told him. "Well, I've finished eating. Want to head home?"

"Can I walk you to your house?" he offered, standing up.

"No!" I said too quickly. "I mean, no thank you."

His bright, blue eyes studied me as I stood up too and wiped my mouth.

"Are you sure. It's polite for the male to walk the female home," he said slowly, still analysing me.

I then decided to tell him a tiny reason. When I say tiny, I mean tiny.

"I can apologise forever for being endlessly rude to you, but it's not that I don't want you to walk me home, to be seen with you or anything like that. I just don't want you to see my house," I explained as subtly as possible.

"Like I said, you're hiding something," Troy observed as we walked out of the café.

"Congratulations, you got 100 percent on the 'new girl observation test'," I clapped mockingly.

"I'm overjoyed," Troy said sarcastically. "Seriously, is it something to do with going to a new school? Because not one of our new students has ever not let anyone know their name, or see their house."

"The principal knows my name," I said.

"1 person. Great start. Where do you want me to leave you?" Troy asked.

"Here," I said.

We stood on the opposite path to the café and my house was a good distance away. There was park and lake behind me so I decided to let him go ahead while I pondered over life.

"I want to watch the water," I said, pointing at the lake.

No joke, I have always loved lakes, especially the lake below the cliff. I could spend hours, even days, staring at the water. It was amazing. Sparkling, clear water. Ripples made by the fascinating creatures below the surface.

"Okay, have a good night," Troy waved goodbye and started to run.

I walked over to the park bench and looked at the sky. Then I looked back at the water. It reminded me of something. Could it be? No. Troy's eyes? Haha. They were so blue, like the lake and the sky. Boys didn't usually draw me in, but Troy's eyes always seemed to mesmerise me. I stood up and walked towards the lake and stared at my reflection.

My mother.

Maria Montez.

I was like a mirror image to my mother, the same dark brown, curly hair. The same Latina features. The same petite body.

My eyes filled with tears and one by one, they streaked down my face and splashed into the water, creating tiny ripples in the lake. I never cried this much over my mother, but today, I was imagining how much different my life might have been if she hadn't killed herself.

I would probably still be getting abused by my dad, and my mom wouldn't have noticed yet. I wouldn't have been in those movies or become famous. I wouldn't have moved to America. My birthday wouldn't be so bad as now: It would only be the mourning day for my brother. I wouldn't have met caring people like Troy and all my other acquaintances.

The time of reflection felt nice. It felt refreshing and like I could let all my emotions take over me. I didn't usually enjoy showing my emotions to people, except for Zac. Compare me to a robot and we would have all the same features and personality, except I was a human and a robot was a man-made object, programmed to do human work.

The next few months went by quickly. No one knew my name yet or my life story. I was starting to trust people more, but it was hard. A person could be pretending to be good, but then betray me at the last second. I couldn't stand heart break again.

It was now April, Juan's birth month. He was the one I missed most from my family. He was the only one who was faithful to me. Both my parents had turned on me and that shattered my heart into a million pieces. It was his birthday tomorrow.

Every now and then, I would go over to Sharpay's house with the rest of the gang and we would play games. They never involved drinking (thank God) and they weren't too private. In all honesty, they were fun and I hadn't experienced fun since I was 12. That was 4 years ago and it felt so good to be able to live again. Today was another one of those days when we would go to Sharpay's house to play games.

I dressed in my normal black hoodie, my cap and my fake glasses and set off to the all-too-familiar house. Even though I had been there numerous times, there was always a new compartment to the house that I hadn't stumbled across before. That was how big it was, not to mention Sharpay's room. It was like the size of a normal house. Extremely spacious, luxurious bed, ornate design, filled with pink. It even had a large walk-in wardrobe which housed Sharpay's million-dollar-worth clothes. I had never seen Sharpay wear the same thing twice.

We were going to play truth or dare again, since we hadn't played it since the first time I came here. It was all too fun and I couldn't get enough of it.

"New girl, well you're not that new, but that name has stuck," Sharpay said. "Truth or dare?"

Truths were fun and they didn't make me do stupid things.

"Truth."

"Are you a virgin?"

That hit me hard. No one had ever asked me a question like that before. I also took that question to heart because it gave me horrible memories. The memories that haunted me for years on end and they never left alone. The terrifying experience no one should ever have to go through, especially with someone you thought loved you. Someone who called you a murderer and worse, made you believe them. I was a murderer. It was in my blood. My mother murdered herself, and my dad, as close as murdered me; he murdered my purity, my emotions and my great life.

"Excuse me. I asked you a question," I heard Sharpay say dully.

"Sorry. Spaced out. Am I a virgin? Pffft. Of course not," I replied without thinking.

"Is that a bad thing?" Chad asked.

"Is what a bad thing?" I said.

"Being a virgin?"

"What? Hell no. That's probably the best thing to ever be, unless of course, you want blood-related kids," I explained. "Sex sucks."

"Pleasure?" Zeke questioned.

"Absolutely none," I said bluntly.

It's a good thing that I confused them. It left them speechless and they didn't ask any more questions. I think I also confused myself because I didn't know what the heck I was talking about. It was all a bunch of nonsense. I subtly hinted that I was raped, but what they didn't know was that I was raped 365 times. Yes, that's right, folks. I was raped every day for a year.

"Sharpay, who are your favourite male and female celebrities," I decided to keep it G-rated and play it safe.

"That's like the easiest question ever!" she squealed. "Everyone knows the answer, but for your sake, I'll answer it. Zac Efron and Gabriella Montez!"

I spluttered at her answer and felt the stares grown on my.

"Sorry, what? Did you say, Gabriella Montez?" I coughed.

"Something wrong?" Sharpay asked.

"Yes, everything. How can you like Gabriella Montez?" I asked.

"What's not to like about her? Can you prove that she's a bad person?" Sharpay asked.

"Actually, yes, I can. And I'll tell you my reasons someday," I said. "And as for Zac…"

I trailed off and gestured for Sharpay to ask someone else.

"Troy!" Sharpay squealed.

"Truth."

"If you could marry anyone in this room, who would you marry?" Sharpay asked.

Troy thought for a moment.

"Everyone except New Girl are in a relationship so I guess her," he answered.

"Me?" I scoffed. "Seriously? You'd probably be better off with Chad's basketball!"

"What?" Chad's head shot up. "My basketball's already married to me!"

"Cheater," Taylor teased.

"Hey! You know what I mean," Chad pleaded.

"New Girl!" Sharpay snapped suddenly. "Do you always have to contradict every statement about you?"

"When they contradict my views, yes," I replied.

"You're pretty damn rude, sometimes," Sharpay said.

"Sharpay…" Troy warned.

"Not that I can help it," I crossed my arms.

"It's rather annoying," Sharpay flashed crossly.

"I take after my father," I replied coolly.

"I'm sure he's not as bad as you are," Sharpay shot back.

"Sharpay, don't," Troy tried to stop her.

"No, don't, Troy," I interrupted. "She's right. I'm probably worse than him anyway, not that you'll ever meet him."

"See, New Girl, this is just your beginning to your journey of selflessness," Sharpay taunted. "The journey in which you will learn how to share. The most selfish people don't share their names because they are too good to have a normal name like everybody else. The most selfish people don't tell us their address because they are too good to live in a house; they live in a castle. The most selfish people are snobby and rude because they are too good have the same status as everyone else. You do all those things and what does that make you? A selfish and rude asshole."

What was I supposed to think after that? I had just been called a 'selfish and rude asshole in front of 5 other people and they probably all agreed with it. Hell, even I agreed with it.

"If you think I'm going to take that back, then you're wrong," Sharpay said sharply.

No one spoke until I broke out in laughter.

It was unexpected, but for some reason, I found it funny that after _months,_ that was when they figured that out. It should've been said to me on the first day I met them.

My laugh wasn't that of happy laughter, it was more like devilish laughter. It sounded somewhat evil and threatening, like a villain would laugh at their victim.

"You realise that _now_?" I laughed. "I would've thought that you noticed that one the first day you met me!"

"Why the hell are you laughing, New Girl?" I heard Taylor yell. "We're being serious here, this is no laughing matter."

Suddenly, my phone rang and I was still laughing hysterically.

 **Author's Note: The parts in bold are what Gabriella says. This is so it is easier for you to understand what the rest of the teenagers hear. They CANNOT hear what Zac is saying or his voice. They can only hear Gabriella.**

" **Hello?"** I said, as I picked up.

"Gabriella, where are you?" I heard Zac say.

" **I am at an acquaintance's house,"** I said laughing so much that tears were pouring from my eyes.

"Why are you laughing so much?" he asked.

" **Wanna know why? One of them called me a selfish and rude asshole,"** I explained.

"And that's funny because?"

" **It's true and they took so long to realise it. You know what day it is tomorrow?"** I asked.

There was a pause until I think Zac realised what I meant.

"Oh my god. Please don't," Zac groaned on the other line.

" **Does it kill to think about it?"** I asked.

"Are you insane? I stopped you, thinking that you had cleared your mind off that once. I'll stop you as long as it takes me to get some sense into that insanely deranged head of yours," Zac said, quickly, his voice rising.

" **I still don't get why you did that. I can get what I want, you know,"** I laughed wickedly.

"Get home, now," Zac ordered sharply.

" **And if I go to the lake first?"** I asked.

"Grounded," Zac said.

" **I've escaped from my house before. I ran to the park, remember,"** I said.

"That was different," Zac said angrily.

" **Alright, alright, I'm coming,"** I laughed.

I hung up and looked at the people around me. They were all glaring at me, with the exception of Troy who had gone to the kitchen to get water for Sharpay who was fuming.

"You think you're so good, don't you," she seethed. "I can get what I want. I can escape from my house. You can't tell me what to do," she quoted. "Is that how you talk to your parents?"

"You can't talk, Blondie. You're more spoilt than you think. You have it all, big house, clothes worth millions of dollars and you have an actual family. You don't live in a shell like I have to and you don't have to live a life that is the equivalent of hell. Compare your life to mine and that's when you'll realise that I am so much less spoilt then you, that I have to live the hard way, that there is hardly anyone who loves or cares for me. Jumping to conclusions leads to the worse consequences," I lectured sharply.

Then, I got up and left, just like I did the first time a came. I walked out of the room and brushed past Troy. I felt him stare at the back of my head and that's when I knew that he had heard the whole thing. I swung the door open and slammed it behind me. I ran all the way home, since I didn't bring my car straightened my clothes to look presentable enough for Zac. Suddenly, the door opened and Zac gripped my arm and pulled me in. The door slammed behind me and I stared at the angry person in front of me.

"What are you thinking?" he demanded.

I scoffed.

"About how much better your life would've been without me. About how much better my life would be if I wasn't born. About how much better everyone else's life would be without me. Honestly, have you never thought about how I impacted other people's life. If I wasn't born, my brother an my mom wouldn't have died. My dad and my friends wouldn't have become the bad people they are today. You wouldn't have to discipline me: a selfish and rude asshole."

Zac held his hand up in front of my face and I stopped.

"Shut up. Shut the hell up. Do you even have any idea what you're talking about?" he asked me. I nodded and smirked. "Say what you said again and I will… I don't even know. I am not disciplining a selfish and rude asshole. I am caring for a girl who I love and a girl who is broken. She doesn't know how much other people love her and won't accept it if someone wants to care for her."

"What are _you_ talking about?" I spat. "How am I supposed to believe that there are people who care about me if it's not true? You can't place the most positive thoughts in my head, Zac. It doesn't work for me."

"Go to bed," Zac commanded. "Sleep will do your mind some good."

"Yes, sir," I mocked him, before I stomped up the stairs.

I plopped on my bed and cried. I could feel the tears soaking up the pillow and it felt disgusting. I felt disgusting. People just didn't understand me. How hard was it to understand that I didn't want friends, that I felt lonely and unloved. That people couldn't grow close to me because that would endanger them. Zac was already in danger, I could feel it.

I cried myself to sleep and ended up dreaming the same nightmare that I had been having for years. I dreamt about my brother dying, my mom shooting herself and my dad abusing and raping me. I dreamt about Alyssa's dad and Jacob Platelle raping me. I should be used to it now, but I wasn't. It still made me scream into my pillow and sob endlessly. I didn't let Zac know that I had nightmares. That would only worry him even more.

It felt like the gods hated me.

The next day I woke up and straight away, I started to tear up. April 21st, my brother's birthday. **(also the Queen's actual birthday)** I only had one photo left of him and it was on my locker door at school. It was a picture of us hugging and smiling, one of the most happy memories I had.

"Gabriella! School!" I heard Zac call from downstairs.

I jumped out of my bed and flung open the door. I ran down the stairs and engulfed Zac into a tight and loving embrace.

"Woah! What's that for?" he asked.

"Keeping me alive," my voice sounded muffled into his chest.

"I hate guilt," he replied simply. "And I love and care so much for you. Today's gonna be hard, but you're a strong girl. You can survive."

"Thanks, Zac. I needed that," I smiled at him. "I'll go get ready now."

As I said before, today was the only day I wore black. When I say 'wear black', I mean that I am fully clothed in black, like I was going to a funeral. It was like a day of mourning every year for my brother. I loved him so, very much and it was so hard to let him go.

I dressed in a black dress and a black coat, black stockings and black shoes. I put on a black cap and my hair was already black, so I didn't need dye. I got my black backpack and set off… to hell.

My former acquaintances probably hated me now for being so annoying and hard to put up with. Back to being a loner. Great… I walked into school with my head hung low and unlocked the lock on my locker. I opened the door and tossed my bag inside. I took a minute to stare at the photo of Juan and me, happy. Again, it was the only photo I had of him. I was concentrating so hard on the photo, that I didn't notice some tears slip from my eyes and someone coming up next to me.

"Hey," I heard Troy's soothing voice. "You okay?"

I turned to face him with angry tears in my eyes.

"Why do you even care? After what I said yesterday? You heard me didn't you!" I almost yelled at him.

"Come," he said softly, taking my hand and leading me to the rooftop garden.

His hand fit perfectly with mine. He sat me down on a bench and gave me some flowers. They were different coloured tulips.

"Thanks for not giving me those too-happy-sunflowers over there," I drawled sarcastically.

He was silent as he played with my hand. Finally, he looked up at my face, his hand still in mine.

"I believe that everything happens for a reason," he started. "The first time I met you, you wouldn't tell me you name, where you came from or anything else. You didn't want to have friends. You completely shut everyone out. I'm not one of those creepy stalker guys who wants to know everything about your life, but I want you to know that I'll always be there if you want to talk or vent or anything, cause I do care…"

I help up my hand for him to stop talking and laughed.

"You care?" I asked incredulously. "Since when did people care? Oh joy! It's a miracle."

"Yes, I care and don't ever doubt that. I've know you for 3 months and I'm not going to pretend that I know stuff about you, cause I don't. I care about you and others do. I know for a fact that Sharpay does, although, she's a little pissed at the moment, but she and the others do care. Let me in," he begged.

Tears streamed down my face and I felt Troy's piercing blue eyes stare into my eyes, like he had x-ray vision and could see into my heart.

"Let me take you somewhere."

 **Review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: This is Chapter 5 and it's the big reveal! I hope you guys are enjoying my writing so far and I hope that you will take some time to review the story or anything. Even just a simple word will encourage me! Enjoy!**

 **Bold: Author's Note/ Other**

Normal: Present

 _Italics: Flashback/ Song lyrics/ Texts_

 _We arrived at the cliff, the cliff with the amazing lake and my favourite rocks below it. There was bench to sit on that overlooked the view. It was truly amazing._

 _"Sit," I said._

 _I looked at the view and smiled._

 _"This is the cliff I was going to jump off about 2 years ago," I said._

 _"What?!" Troy exclaimed, tightening his grip on my hand._

 _"You heard me," I said. "I am going to tell you all about me as a sign of trust. You have been a great… friend for 3 month and I want you to know that I really appreciate is not going to be a one-sided conversation, so I_ _will_ _ask that you contribute sometimes, but don't interrupt."_

 _Troy just nodded._

 _"What do you know about Gabriella Montez?" I asked._

 _Troy stared at the lake. His eyes were already blue, but they were bluer than before because of the reflection._

 _"She's a famous person who acts and sings, for starters. She's all our favourite celebrity and she lives a perfect life. She's pretty, smart, kind, has a great voice and it seems like everyone wants to be her friend. I also know that she lives somewhere around here. You hate her, but I really want to meet her. That's what I know, why?" Troy said._

 _I laughed. It stretched my tear-stained face._

 _"First of all, everything you said is false. She is not pretty, smart, kind or anything like that," I started. "Secondly, you've already met her."_

 _"Wait, what? What do you…" I interrupted._

 _I took off my cap and my glasses and turned to face him. I felt him inhale deeply and stare at me. It was intense._

 _"My name is Gabriella Anne Montez and I'm going to tell you my story," I said._

 _Troy looked into my eyes and I could tell that he was listening intently._

 _"I was born on the 9_ _th_ _of June, 1990, in Australia, 3 years after my brother, Juan. If he had lived, he would have turned 20 today, which is why I am mourning. My parents, Maria and Carlos Montez were so loving and caring. I could not imagine life without my parents. A month before I turned 12, we went on a holiday to Hawaii where I met my Zac Efron. He was at the beach and caught me staring at him. He came over to say hello. I then acted out an extreme fan-girl greeting, kissing him and I think I fake proposed to him too._

 _We went to a café together and we took pictures and exchanged phone numbers. It was one of the best holidays of my life and we kept in touch. The next year was when my life fell apart. It was a tradition on my birthday to go to this amazing Japanese restaurant as a family celebration. This year however was different. We went to the restaurant, but when we came out, some men grabbed us and dragged us to this dark alleyway. When I opened my eyes, the next thing I saw was my brother, lying on the floor and a puddle of blood around his head."_

 _"I wondered who that boy on your locker was," Troy said dreamily. "Keep going."_

 _"My dad and I went home without my mom. I don't know where she went, but my dad shoved me into the house. He blamed me for Juan's death and said that if I wasn't born, we wouldn't have to go out for lunch and Juan wouldn't had died. It was the first time he hit me and the first time he raped me. The next day, I went to school and Jacob Platelle offered to take me to class. Yes, the same Jacob Platelle whom you hate, was my classmate. I declined and he raped me as well. One the first day of school, you saw me talking to him, right?"_

 _"Yes," Troy nodded._

 _"That was me promising to not tell anyone about him, so please don't say a word. After that, I got home, my ex best friend's dad also raped me. From then on, I only got raped once a day, but my dad continued to abuse me. For some reason, I never got pregnant. Haha. My mom was barely home."_

 _"On my 14_ _th_ _birthday, it had been a year since the abuse and rape. I woke up and went to the kitchen. Surprisingly, my mom was at home and cooked me breakfast. She turned around and wished me happy birthday, but then she pulled out a gun and shot herself in the head. I'm telling you, I tried to stop her, but I just couldn't."_

 _By now, I was bawling my eyes out. Troy embraced me tightly. It was a source of comfort that I was thankful for and being in his arms just felt so… right. I laughed to myself._

 _"Two deaths on my birthday! Can you believe that?" I asked. "Anyway, after that, I ran away to a nearby park before my dad could catch me and rape me again. Coincidentally, I got a phone call from Zac. He apologised for not wishing me happy birthday the year before. I ended up telling him what had happened and he booked the first flight to Australia. He took me back to America with him and I stayed at his house."_

 _"So you ran halfway around the world to escape?" Troy asked. I nodded. "So that's why you told me that you were from far away when we first met."_

 _"My dad's words hit me quite hard and I believed everything that he said and I still do. Troy, I'm a murderer. I'm a burden to the world and everyone who grows close to me turns on me, kills themselves or gets killed. I was so reluctant to live with Zac, but he persuaded me to live with him. He was my only guardian. Then he became my unofficial godfather."_

 _"I decided to start acting to take my mind off what had happened. After about a month of looking for auditions and failing, I came here to take my life. I was about to jump when Zac stopped me. He convinced me… or at least_ _tried_ _to convince me that I would be missed by people. Can you believe it? I don't even know why he tried cause I don't believe a word he said," I chuckled devilishly._

 _"This explains a lot," Troy nodded. "Why you wear a disguise, why you wouldn't let us know your name, why you were crying 3 months ago and why you are wearing black today. Why you won't let us go to your house, give us your phone number or eat Australian food, but one thing I don't understand is why you said so many hateful things about yourself."_

 _I looked Troy in the eye and said, "Whatever I say is the truth."_

 _He blinked in shock at my words and shook his head, laughing._

 _"Seriously? You actually think that? I told you that everything happens for a reason. Your personality is the effect of what happened back in Australia. Sharpay doesn't know anything about you. One of her hobbies is to jump to conclusions. Believe it or not, in class, she always writes the conclusion first," Troy said._

 _"That's not gonna change my mind. I'm going to see my mother and brother today. You can't stop me. That's what I said to Zac on the phone at Sharpay's house yesterday. Zac gave me this stupid talk at home. He thinks I'm at school," I said, staring longingly at the cliff edge._

 _I turned around with amused eyes to Troy who glared at me._

 _"Don't you dare," he said menacingly._

 _"Give me 7 reasons why I shouldn't jump, or walk off. Either way would be amazing. I bet you can't give me at least 5, but give me 7 good reasons that convince me and I'll live," I told him._

 _Troy sat up straight. I could tell that he was determined to keep me alive._

 _"First of all, you are too young to die. There is a God out there who has a plan for your future. We are not adults yet, just beginner teenagers. It's not live we've actually started living yet," Troy began._

 _I nodded slowly, accepting that reason._

 _"Secondly, think of Zac. You're being selfish at the moment, only thinking about how_ _you_ _would feel by killing yourself. How did you feel when your mom killed herself? Terrible that you could save her. That is exactly what Zac would feel. He'd probably stop his career if you just walked out of his life like that. How would you like it if you were up in heaven or something, looking down at Zac and seeing him live in misery like that?"_

 _I nodded again, that was what Zac had said to me 2 years before._

 _"Thirdly, think of how I would feel if you jumped. I'm right here with you and watching you jump would kill me," Troy said._

 _"Don't watch then," I shrugged._

 _"No, let me finish. If you jump, I jump. Do you underestimate how much influence you've had on my life? Before you start complaining, the influence is good. You've shown me how people like you live. People who have gone through all that crap. It's not funny and it's a great lesson for everyone to learn. I never cared much for other people's lives until you came into it. You were mysterious, cold and unfriendly, but now I can see why. It's the same concept with bullies. Bullies have low self-esteen, therefore, they bully people to make themselves feel good. It's the concept of cause and effect."_

 _He was going good. How could I deny a reason like that?_

 _"Go do debating," I joked._

 _Troy laughed with me._

 _"Fourthly, think of how Sharpay would feel. Sharpay, again, jumps to conclusions. If you jump, she'll think it's because of what she said yesterday. She'll forever live in guilt for not apologising to you when you were alive. She'll probably end up torturing herself or trashing her room, and you know how much stuff she has in her room."_

 _"You're repeating the same reasons, just with different people," I said._

 _Troy shook his head._

 _"No, I'm not. They are totally different. Don't try to make me fail, cause I'm not gonna give up," he said._

 _Inspiration speech much?_

 _"Fifthly, you have so many fans who admire you for your work," he started, but I cut him off._

 _"Do you know what fans are?" I asked. "Fans are fake people who try to make famous people notice them. One a famous person notices them, they get shout outs, making the fan famous. The fan does not admire the famous person, they_ _use_ _the famous person for fame."_

 _"That's not true. I'm a fan of you and you don't see me begging for popularity, do you?" Troy asked._

 _I shook my head. He was right._

 _"If you die, your story will be spread by the people who knew you. Your fans would see that dark pasts leads to death. It's not right. People should learn how to grow stronger from their experiences. If someday, you decide to tell your fans your story, they will learn that it is indeed possible for life to get better. Would you rather inspire the world, or make them believe that there is no such thing as having a good life?"_

 _I nodded. He made a good point._

 _"Sixthly, you have done so much in your life. You have made movies, musicals and you've recorded an album. Do you know how much other people wish to do that stuff? If you die now, you will put your whole life to waste. These 16 and 9 months would have been flushed down the toilet. It's like wasting food. You prepare the food, but then throw it away. You've done all these amazing things, and you just throw it away."_

 _He only had one reason left to go. These reasons were good, no doubt that the final would be good as well._

 _"Finally, there is no worse way to deal with depression and sadness than to kill yourself. There is another way to deal with it an suicide is_ _not_ _the answer. Killing yourself is like numbing your skin when you get a needle. It stops the pain for a while, but when you finally feel it, it is worse than it would've been if you didn't put the numbing cream. If you kill yourself, even if you're not alive, you will regret it," Troy finished._

 _I clapped._

 _"Bravo, bravo. Genius. You do realise that I'm still gonna do it anyway?" I smiled at him sweetly, showing off my perfectly straight and shiny teeth._

 _I stood up and brushed some dust off my dress, but someone pulled me back down._

 _"Gabriella Montez, you listen to me," Troy demanded angrily, making me face him. He cupped my face with his hand and stroked my cheek lovingly. He spoke softer. "You're broken. You don't know how to deal with it but there's a better, more beneficial way out of it. The easy way out doesn't do anyone any good."_

 _Tears fell down my face, but Troy wiped them away with the pad of his thumb._

 _"What's the point in living? I've spent my whole life living like an object. A sex toy. A person who is used to get famous. Objects are dead. Can't you see that I'm already living like a dead person?" I asked._

 _Troy wrapped his arms around me and I buried my head in his chest and cried softly. He stroked my hair and held me close. It made me feel safe._

 _"Promise me you won't do it," he said._

 _I removed myself from the embrace._

 _"How can I promise that?" I asked. "I'm a selfish and rude asshole, like Sharpay said. If I'm so annoying to people, why would they care? It's just me. An extra person to the population who does nothing. I don't help the world or anything, so why waste my time living if I know that I don't have a purpose?"_

 _Troy sighed._

 _"I know what you're thinking, Gabriella. You think that you impose on people's lives and make it harder for them to live. You think that if you get close to someone, bad things will happen to them. The world doesn't revolve around you. I'm not saying it in the way you think: they way in which you are the most important person. Nobody gets hurt because of you. You're not the reason people die or turn bad. You can't control people's future or time of living," he explained. "Please don't jump."_

 _Please don't jump._

 _Please don't jump._

 _Please don't jump._

 _Those three words echoed inside my head and that was when I made my decision. Troy had a point. I was only thinking about myself and not about everyone else. How it wasn't my fault that people turned out the way they did. I sighed._

 _"Alright," I said. "I won't jump."_

 _There. I said it. I wasn't going to jump. For Troy, for Zac and for everyone else who cared for me._

 _Troy hugged me so tight._

 _"Troy! Can't! Breathe!" I managed to get out._

 _He quickly released me and smiled at me._

 _"Sorry, I'm just so happy!" he grinned._

 _"Good job," I teased. "You're a life saver."_

 _"I am aren't I?" Troy replied sarcastically._

 _I looked down at my watch and saw the time. It was 11:00am._

 _"Wanna skip?" Troy suggested._

 _"You know it," I grinned. "Actually, Zac isn't going to work today. He also spends these types of days at home, mourning. I can introduce him to you and you to him if you want."_

 _"Let's do it!"_

 _HSM_

 _We arrived in front of my house in a few minutes._

 _"Nice house," Troy smirked._

 _"What? If you were expecting the Evans' house, then too bad," I replied._

 _"No, it's a nice house. I wanna go inside," Troy said, like a child._

 _"Okay," I laughed._

 _I pulled him to the door and unlocked it. The door didn't make a sound, but it was clear that someone was home._

 _"Gabriella?" Zac called. "I thought lunch started at 12."_

 _I saw his head poke around the corner and he looked at me. Then his eyes shifted to Troy. I expected Troy to be fiddling or something like that in nervousness, but he looked perfectly normal. Like he would with his friends._

 _"I'm proud of you, Gabs," Zac smiled._

 _"What?" I asked befuddled._

 _"You finally had the nerve to tell someone," Zac said. He held out his hand to Troy. "Hi, I'm Zac."_

 _Troy shook it and smiled._

 _"Troy Bolton."_

 _"Make yourself at home," Zac invited._

 _I led Troy to a couch in front of the TV and sat down._

 _"Usually people are nervous when they meet someone new," I stated._

 _"I don't get nervous much, but this was a different greeting. Usually when I go to a girl's house, the parents always think I'm their daughter's new boyfriend or something like that. It happened with Sharpay… and Taylor," Troy said._

 _"Zac's not like that. It's not like we were holding hands or anything, right?" I asked._

 _"Yeah."_

 _At that moment, Zac decided to sit on a chair opposite us and drink water._

 _"I want to know everything," he demanded._

 _We told him the whole story of the first few hours of our day, from getting to school to going to the cliff and finally, how Troy convinced me not to jump. I guessed that Zac was extremely happy with Troy._

 _"You should do debating, if you can convince someone like Gabby," Zac said._

 _Troy and I both laughed._

 _"That's what she said to me," Troy explained. "Speaking of which, what can I call you at school? I don't particularly like calling you 'New Girl' all the time."_

 _I looked up and the wall and my eye caught the Grammy I won for my album._

 _"Anne," I answered. "It's my middle name."_

 _"But Sharpay will notice," Troy argued._

 _"I can't choose my name," I shrugged._

 _"The better question is: Are you going to tell the rest of your friends?" Zac questioned._

 _I shrugged again._

 _"Maybe. I don't know," I replied._

 _The day a door is closed_

 _The echoes fill your soul_

 _They won't say which way to go_

 _Just trust your heart…_

 _The lyrics from 'Scream' from 'High School Musical' filled the room. Zac looked at Troy who blushed and pulled out his phone. He pressed the answer and speaker button._

 _"Dude! Where are you?" Chad's voice yelled over the chatter of the cafeteria._

 _"Chillin'," Troy replied casually._

 _"Gimme a good reason as to why you're not at school," Chad demanded._

 _"Anne," he used my middle name, thankfully, "had some problems."_

 _There was a brief silence._

 _"Chad?"_

 _"Who's Anne? Your new girlfriend?" Chad asked quickly, as if he was trying to get over that question._

 _"Girlfriend? No way! And don't say 'new girlfriend' cause I've never had one before," Troy said._

 _"And where's New Girl? She with you?" Chad questioned._

 _Troy turned to look at me, his eyes asking me what to say. I shrugged, but then I spoke in a high-pitched voice, very much like Sharpay's._

 _"Who's New Girl?" I squeaked. "Surely Troy hasn't gotten himself a new female acquaintance!"_

 _Troy looked at me bewildered. I finally demonstrated my improvisation abilties to him and he looked rather impressed, if I can say so myself._

 _"Troy! Who is this girl? She definitely would not say that if she were not your girlfriend. You skipped a day of school for her!" Chad exclaimed._

 _"I'm insulted, Chad!" I screeched, "How dare you speak of me as if I am not worth anything! Troy is absolutely_ _whipped_ _. He'd do_ _anything_ _for me!"_

 _Troy stared at me like I was crazy, which I was – sometimes my actions turned… truly bizarre, but I couldn't help it. It was a special and necessary component that produced_ _my_ _personality._

 _"Troy, I'm sorry for saying this in front of this… Anne girl, but she's absolutely… psychotic!" Chad shouted into the speaker._

 _"As if she would care," Troy shrugged, rolling his eyes at me._

 _"I didn't finish," Chad complained. "I was going to say that psychotic is the perfect type for me and that I wanted to meet your girlfriend."_

 _"Dude, you're crazy, you can't meet her, and she's not my girlfriend!" Troy proclaimed._

 _"What?!" I mock exclaimed. "How could you say that, Troy! I am your…"_

 _Troy quickly hung up and breathed a sigh of relief._

 _"That was completely unnecessary. Do you know how much Chad is going to bug me about this now?" he asked._

 _"That's the fun part," I laughed._

 _Troy groaned._

 _"Look on the bright side, Troy," Zac said. He hadn't spoken for a long time. "You have an amazing ringtone."_

 _Troy stared at Zac._

 _"You should be able to figure out the meaning behind the ringtone by now," Troy said. "Chad drives me crazy sometimes and it felt suitable to put an intense song that described how annoying Chad is."_

 _"He can't be that bad," Zac said._

 _"You have yet to see."_

 _HSM_

 _In my opinion, Jacob Platelle was hardly a bad person. Sure, he had raped me and all, but he must've had some sort of provocation. My beliefs were mutual with Troy's – everything happened for a reason and that was why I didn't hate Jacob. He was a bully at school and I despised him for his actions, but he did nothing to fit in my enemy list, not that I had one._

 _Many would think I was crazy for pitying him, but I was a forgiving person when I wanted to be. I couldn't forgive my dad for what he had done, but forgiving Jacob was altogether a different story. He never annoyed me at East High since we talked on the first day, which I was thankful for. He completely ignored me and that meant that no one would wonder if we had any history._

 _HSM_

 _The next day, I woke up feeling refreshed and happy. I remembered the events that occurred on the previous day and felt a whole weight lift off my shoulders. I had finally told my life story to someone and it relieved me. I dressed in my usual disguise and prepared for a whole new day at East High._

 _Haters, here I come._

 _As I strolled through the corridor, I could feel people's eyes burning holes in the back of my head. Literally, they were glaring at me. The glare that hurt the most was probably Sharpay's. I arrived at my locker safely, before I could strangle anyone and unlocked it. Instantaneously, a piece of paper fell out of it and dropped on the floor. This caught my attention and I picked it up._

 _New Girl,_

 _Hey, it's Sharpay. I'm just providing you with a friendly reminder that I still hate you and I'm not going to apologise. I hope you regret the words you said two days ago from the bottom of your heart._

 _Stop frolicking with Troy. It's not funny. You going to lead him into danger and do we want that? No!_

 _Have a fabulously horrible day._

 _I laughed as I read that. I_ _never_ _regret what I say. Whatever I say comes from my heart and I always have time to think about it before it is made heard. And no, I was not going to stop 'frolicking' with Troy. He knew the consequences of being close to me and he wasn't going to stop. I knew it._

 _"Hey, Anne," Troy greeted from behind me._

 _As soon as he said that, a shrill scream sounded from the other end of the hall. We both turned around to see who it was._

 _"TROY!" Sharpay shrieked. "YOU'RE STILL HANGING OUT WITH_ _HER_ _? EVEN AFTER WHAT SHE SAID?"_

 _Troy just chuckled. A dangerous chuckle, however._

 _"It's a free country," he replied nonchalantly. "I can do whatever I want."_

 _It seemed like Sharpay was the only one who was bursting with fury because the rest of the gang were half-glaring at her. Even Zeke who was just about to give her cookies, put them back in his bag._

 _Another skill I had was lip-reading. I had practised it on set when I sat off to the side, watching the rest of the cast perform. School was a great opportunity to lip-read._

 _"Sharpay, the whole hall is watching," I saw Taylor's lips move._

 _"So what?" Sharpay hissed. "They should!"_

 _Taylor didn't reply because the bell rang and it was time to go to class._

 _HSM_

 _At lunchtime, I invited myself to sit at the usual table, not caring if Sharpay had put me on her nemesis list. Who was she to judge anyway? Everyone else sat down around the table. I was between Troy and Taylor._

 _"Why are you here?" Sharpay asked coolly._

 _Actually, it wasn't really a question. It was more of an overly rude way to tell me to go away._

 _"She can sit here if she wants," Troy answered in the same sort of cool tone Sharpay used._

 _"No one asked you, Bolton," Sharpay said, glaring at Troy._

 _"Sharpay, I don't care if you don't want me here. Call me a loner, but here is the only table I actually have a friend," I said, eating my lunch._

 _Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Troy smile at my use of the word 'friend', referring to him._

 _"No one likes you, New Girl. As I said before, you're a selfish and rude asshole. What boosts my hate for you is also that you hate Gabriella Montez," Sharpay said._

 _I laughed._

 _"You can't use my hate of Gabriella Montez against me," I said._

 _"Do you even have at least a_ _decent_ _reason for disliking her?" Zeke spoke up._

 _"Oh, I have great reasons for hating her, right, Troy?" I turned to Troy to see him nod._

 _"Oh, yes. You have great reasons," he agreed._

 _"So Troy. You're actually siding with her now?" Sharpay growled._

 _Troy snorted._

 _"Sharpay, you're the queen of jumping to conclusions. You'd never listen to anyone if they told you their story," he said._

 _Sharpay was silent, knowing that she had lost this fight, but refusing to admit it. Suddenly, Chad changed the subject._

 _"Troy, who's this Anne girl who calls you her boyfriend?" he asked._

 _I could swear that I saw the corners of Troy's mouth turn upwards._

 _"TROY HAS A GIRLFRIEND?!" Taylor exclaimed, catching the attention of the whole cafeteria._

 _Troy turned around in his seat and looked at the student body._

 _"I, Troy Bolton, has never had a girlfriend and would like to keep it that way until college," he announced loudly. Then he turned back. "Geez, Tay. Need to say that to the whole world?"_

 _Taylor crossed her arms._

 _"Troy, you've never had a girlfriend. It's about time you get one," she said, somewhat crossly._

 _"Not happening, Tay."_

 _"Troy!" Chad startled everyone with his sudden demand. "Who is Anne?!"_

 _Troy cleared his throat began a performance._

 _"I'm Anne, this super annoying girl who is head over heels for Troy," Troy mimicked my high-pitch voice. It was very amusing to watch. "I love Troy so much, but he hates me. He rejected my offer to be his girlfriend and denied his attraction towards me when speaking to Chad yesterday on the phone."_

 _Troy flashed me a smile and I couldn't help but smile back._

 _"Anne's an amazing person. I can't believe you turned her down!" I teased._

 _The table turned their attention to me._

 _"Do you know her?" Zeke asked._

 _"Inside and out," I said, pretending to be proud of my connections to many people._

 _"Where were you yesterday?" Zeke urged._

 _"With Anne," I shrugged._

 _"Ha! So you_ _were_ _with Troy!" Chad burst out._

 _"More so with Anne, but Troy existed," I said simply._

 _"You two skipped a day of school for Anne? How come she's so important, and why haven't I met her before?" Taylor asked._

 _Troy and I glanced at each other for a split second before focusing our eyes on the other people before us._

 _"Cause Troy's in love," I emphasised._

 _"Am not," Troy defended._

 _"Sure you're not," I said sarcastically._

 _"Pffft. Please. I would never fall in love Anne. She's so pushy and… it's overwhelming!" Troy stated. I knew he was acting, but from an outsider's perspective, it really did sound like he didn't like Anne._

 _"Can you show me a photo of her? I want to approve," Chad pestered._

 _"Why would I have photos of Anne on my phone if I don't like her?" Troy asked._

 _"New Girl."_

 _"I don't keep photos of Anne on my phone either," I said._

 _"Proof?" Chad pushed._

 _I took out my phone and opened the 'photos' app. I gave it to Chad and he flicked through the photos._

 _"Why do you have pictures of Gabriella Montez on here?" he challenged._

 _"Blackmail," I said quickly, without hesitation._

 _"You really do hate her, don't you," Troy said, trying to make out scene believable._

 _"Hate is not a strong enough word."_

 _HSM_

 _To be honest, I was quite surprised that Troy hadn't blabbed about his 'encounter' with Gabriella Montez. He hadn't even asked for an autograph or picture from Zac or me. It was as if we were normal people, not celebrities and it was a good feeling to be viewed as 'normal.'_

 _Troy walked me home and we both went to my room._

 _"So this is the famous Gabriella Montez's bedroom," he said._

 _"I'd rather just be known as Gabriella Montez," I said._

 _"Sorry," he apologised, as he studied my awards. "Lunch was fun."_

 _I sat down on my bed and Troy joined me._

 _"Yeah, it was. I'm just so confused about this Sharpay thing. Is what I said to her so bad that she hates me?" I asked._

 _Troy wrapped an arm around my shoulder comfortingly as I stared at the ground._

 _"Sharpay has a habit of being too judgemental sometimes. No scratch that, she is too judgemental all the time. She doesn't know the real you. Anyway, I'm really glad you told me your story because I can finally understand why you act the way you act," he reassured me._

 _"You know a lot about me," I said. "It's about time I know about you."_

 _"Uh, I like basketball," Troy trailed off._

 _"But?"_

 _"But, I used to play it because it was fun. I played it with Chad and Zeke as a way to relax have fun. Now, since I got on the basketball team, my whole life kinda revolves around it. I have to be the best of the best for my dad and he won't quit lecturing me about how I have to focus more and all this nonsense. On top of that, he's already planned out my future for me: to go to U of A and get a basketball scholarship," Troy explained._

 _"What would you like to do instead?" I asked._

 _Troy looked around the room._

 _"I have more interests than just basketball. Confession time, Mrs. Darbus' class is one of my favourites."_

 _"What?" I gasped. "You like homeroom?"_

 _Troy laughed and shook his head._

 _"No, not that. I absolutely love theatre and music. I enjoy singing very much, in fact, the time we sang together was one of the best classes, not only because you made me sound better, but because I got to do what I loved."_

 _I looked into Troy's eyes and smiled._

 _"You're very talented, Troy. Don't let your dad decide your future. For I know, you could be my co-star someday. You have an amazing voice," I praised._

 _Troy smiled sweetly back at me._

 _"Thanks. That's a great compliment especially as it comes from an actual singer," he said._

 _"You know what you should do," I began. "You should sneak into an audition, audition with your amazing acting or singing skills and then get the role. Then you tell your dad that it's about time you got a job and then say that you can't turn that offer down."_

 _Troy shook his head._

 _"My dad would just ground me for going to the audition in the first place. Plus, I would never get the role," he said._

 _"That's not true, Troy. You know, you'd win Oscars for acting out a character like Anne," I teased._

 _"Shut up," he replied, nonetheless smiling._

 _Suddenly, my eyes lit up with an idea._

 _"What?" Troy asked, seeing my overly excited face._

 _"We should prank call Sharpay with me acting as Anne!" I grinned._

 _Troy rolled his eyes._

 _"Fine."_

 _The dial tone rang, but stopped when the call was answered._

 _"This better be important, Bolton," Sharpay groaned._

 _"Hey, Sharpay!" Troy said, pretending to be excited, but glaring at me at the same time, as if saying, 'why'd you make me do this?'_

 _"What?" Sharpay grumbled._

 _"Anne wants to say hi," Troy said enthusiastically._

 _Before Sharpay could reply, I butted in._

 _"Sharpay!" I squealed. "We should totally go shopping sometime! Troy has told me all about your shopping habits and I absolutely adore them!"_

 _Troy stared at me._

 _"Really?" Sharpay's tone turned excited. "When?"_

 _I was silent, lost for words._

 _"I don't know. You choose," I offered._

 _"Saturday?" Sharpay asked._

 _"No can do," I said, fake sadness in my voice. "I'm going out with Troy."_

 _"So you are dating Troy."_

 _"Of course, why wouldn't I be…" I was cut off._

 _"She's not," Troy said strongly._

 _"But Troy!" I pleaded. "You said…"_

 _"I didn't say anything," Troy said sternly. So sternly that I actually thought he was mad at me. He fought back laughs at my scared expression._

 _"Sharpay?" I asked as the other line went silent. "Are you still there? I really want this shopping trip."_

 _"Sorry, you guys were arguing. What about Friday afternoon," Sharpay asked._

 _"She can't do that," Troy said. "She does therapy at that time."_

 _I glared at him in return for that comment._

 _"I don't have_ _serious_ _problems," I said._

 _"I beg to differ," Troy replied._

 _"Guys! We're organising a shopping trip here!" Sharpay said. "Anne, what about Sunday."_

 _"Ugh," I said with false annoyance. "I have work on that day."_

 _That was true. I had to go to the recording studio on Sunday._

 _"Then when are you free?" Sharpay exploded._

 _"Basically any other day," I shrugged._

 _"Monday afternoon?"_

 _"Oh, I forgot to tell you, I go to this really good school," I boasted. "It's called 'Very Dramatic School For Arts,' or 'VDSFA' for short. It's such a serious school that it runs from 8am to 8pm, so Monday to Thursdays aren't good for me."_

 _Troy struggled to hide a laugh._

 _"Sorry Sharpay. We have to go now. You can organise your shopping session next time. Anne has an extra therapy appointment in 15 minutes because she's been going insane lately. Talk to you later!" Troy said, quickly hanging up._

 _Once he did, we both burst out into fits of laughter._

 _"Now, that was funny," he said. "Great excuses. You really sounded like you had a full schedule."_

 _"Improvisation's the word," I said._

 _"Totally better than Sharpay and Ryan's acting skills combined," Troy clapped. "Is_ _anything_ _of what we said true?"_

 _"Actually, yes, there is," I nodded. "I do have work on Sunday. New song."_

 _"Cool. Sing well," Troy encouraged._

 _"Thanks," I smiled. "I can't believe you said I needed therapy!"_

 _"It was worth it."_


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I revealed all of Gabriella's problems last chapter. Do you think I should add more of Jacob Platelle to the story? Do you think the story's going too fast?**

 **Bold: Author's Note/ Other**

Normal: Present

 _Italics: Flashback/ Song lyrics/ Texts_

 _"Troy! What was the meaning of yesterday's phone call?" Sharpay asked Troy._

 _Troy fake groaned._

 _"I told you! Anne wanted to talk to you! It wasn't my fault," he complained._

 _"She's a stuck-up, boasting, fully-scheduled… I don't know!" Sharpay screamed. "How can you put up with her?"_

 _Troy turned to me._

 _"I don't put up with her, she does," he said, jerking a thumb at me._

 _"Don't talk to me about_ _her_ _," Sharpay glared._

 _I shrugged._

 _"Hey, it's not my fault that you hate me," I defended._

 _"Sure it is."_

 _RING!_

 _We all bustled to homeroom in fear of what Ms. Darbus would say if we were late. Darbus had a tendency to give out detentions if someone was late, straight away. Luckily, I was in her good book, so I didn't have to worry._

 _"Good morning, class," Darbus acknowledged. "It is my pleasure to announce that the Junior Prom will be taking place in 2 weeks. It is a formal dress party which means that the gentlemen will dress in a suit and tie, and the ladies will dress in dresses or skirts. Invitations will be sold in the cafeteria every lunchtime until the night and it is compulsory to go, unless something_ _important_ _pops up. Also, our prom will unfortunately clash with the annual talent show, so performances will be held before the dinner. Questions?"_

 _A guy with dark brown hair, at the back, raised his hand._

 _"Any tips on asking someone to be your date?" he asked._

 _"It must be romantic, Cross, or else the girl will not go with you. Cheesiness is not acceptable," Darbus lectured._

 _RING!_

 _It was now time for Gym and we all headed out of class. I fell into step with Troy, since we had the same class._

 _"First prom?" he asked._

 _I nodded._

 _"What the hell_ _is_ _prom?" I asked._

 _Troy laughed._

 _"You're such a newbie, you know that? Prom is a formal gathering of Junior students which includes a dance."_

 _"Do I have to go?" I moaned._

 _"Did you hear Darbus?" Troy asked._

 _"What can I wear on my face?" I asked._

 _"Nothing."_

 _"I need to protect my identity!" I protested._

 _"You shouldn't hide anymore," he advised._

 _"I'll think about it."_

 _HSM_

 _My name is Gabriella Montez and I have many talents. I'm not pompous or anything, I'm just stating a fact. Most people know that I am skilled in acting, singing, academics and sport, but what most people don't know is that I could be the captain of the cheerleading team if I wanted to._

 _Flashback_

 _I headed down to the basement where the gym was. Zac had often told me that if I wanted to, I could exercise there. It was home to a treadmill, weights, yoga mats and gym balls. Everything to boost one's fitness was there. I decided to start my work out session with some stretching._

 _I slid into the splits and squared my hips so they were stretching. I had never had gymnastic classes before, but I had chosen to self-teach myself at home. I found it impressive if I was able to show someone my skills that they didn't know. After stretching my legs, I stretched my back by doing a chest roll and placing my feet on the floor in front of my head._

 _"Gabriella?" Zac called. "Are you in… woah!"_

 _I twisted my head to see Zac standing in the doorframe, staring at me. I rolled forward and stood up perfectly._

 _"Yeah?" I said casually._

 _"Did you do gymnastics or something?" he asked._

 _"No," I shrugged. "Taught myself."_

 _He clapped._

 _"That's pretty damn impressive."_

 _"Thanks," I smiled._

 _End flashback_

 _To say that I was excited to for gym today was an understatement. Coach Bolton had just announced that we were going to go through some 'basic gymnastics stunts.' When he said 'basic', he meant basic. We started with a forward roll and through it, I thought about how I would just love to let myself go loose and flip and turn and stretch. I'm pretty sure the boy who asked the question in homeroom failed at the forward roll and I have to say that I was mildly unimpressed._

 _Coach had decided to host a competition in which we would all do stunts starting from easy to hard and anyone who failed to complete it would be eliminated. Game on._

 _"Backwards roll," Coach called._

 _Some more people went out._

 _"Cartwheel."_

 _More people went out. How is it possible for someone to fail a cartwheel, I mean, come on!_

 _"Backbend."_

 _That was harder, but easy for me._

 _"Front walkover."_

 _I think some more people went out because it was just me and the cheerleaders left._

 _"Back walkover."_

 _"Round-off."_

 _Some cheerleaders giggled as they got called off._

 _"Back handspring."_

 _Easy._

 _"Chest roll."_

 _Way too easy._

 _By now, it was just me and Stacy Brighton, the head cheerleader. We battled with all kind of different stunts until she failed at doing a round-off back handspring layout. Ah, the glory! I could feel the stares of the students and teachers on me as I went to the bleachers to sit down._

 _"Gonna join the cheerleading team?" Troy asked, me as I sat down next to him._

 _"No way," I replied flatly._

 _"Sure? You were really good. You beat Brighton," he said._

 _"No," I confirmed._

 _"I don't get you."_

 _"Because I have to wear those stupid… slutty costumes and if I become a cheerleader, I will be one of the popular, jerky, girly… girls…" I reasoned._

 _"Good point."_

 _I looked up at someone tapping my shoulder. It was Troy's dad… I mean Coach Bolton._

 _"You did really well today," he congratulated. "Ever think about joining the cheerleading team?"_

 _I grumbled._

 _"Your son just asked me that."_

 _"Great minds think alike," Troy demurred._

 _"Only one of us has a great mind, Troy. You know that," Coach said sternly, but in a playful way._

 _"Hey! I resent that!" Troy exclaimed._

 _I laughed, slightly jealously because Troy had such a good relationship with his dad. Yes, I_ _was_ _jealous._

 _"So are you going to join the team?" Coach asked again, snapping me out of my thoughts._

 _"Sorry," I declined politely. "I don't have much time for practices and stuff."_

 _Coach smiled at me reassuringly._

 _"It's okay. Their loss, but the cheerleaders aren't as important as the basketball team," he told me. "Troy especially knows that."_

 _Troy groaned._

 _"Don't remind me," he muttered under is breath._

 _"Thank you, Coach, for your wonderful company, but Troy and I have to go to Drama now. See you later," I said, grabbing Troy by his arm and hauling him away. "You owe me. I just saved your butt."_

 _"Saved my butt?" Troy scoffed. "As if."_

 _"It's an expression!" I objected._

 _As we walked into the theatre, we saw Darbus setting up the stage… differently. It looked like a classroom, facing the audience._

 _"Bolton," she said. "You've been disciplined._

 _"Excuse me?" Troy asked._

 _"Ever since you've been associated with her," she said, pointing rudely at me. "You haven't been late to a single class."_

 _"Well, she's very organised," he said._

 _"Not," I muttered under my breath._

 _"Ah, here are the rest of our young thespians. Come and enter the Theatre of the Arts! Have a seat! Have a seat!"_

 _Once most of us were seated, I noticed Stacy Brighton, still standing in the walkway._

 _"Miss. Brighton, shall I repeat it again? Please have a seat. You can sit over there," Darbus instructed._

 _"Over there?" Brighton shrieked. "I'm not going to sit by myself! Why can't I sit on Troy's lap?"_

 _Troy looked flabbergasted and Chad sniggered behind me. How funny. Honestly, I was a tad bit jealous._

 _"Not appropriate, Brighton. Sit here," Darbus said, pointing at the ground under her nose._

 _Brighton reluctantly sat Indian Style in front of the teacher._

 _"Today, we are going to practise acting out believable characters. Get into partners and you will be acting out what_ _they_ _do during class. Rule is that your partner has to be of the_ _opposite_ _gender. Are we clear Miss. Brighton? I have set up the stage like homeroom and you will each sit in your partner's seat. Find your partners and get going."_

 _Troy and I made eye contact and we both grinned. I went to the stairs, leading up to the stage and waited. Troy went to my seat at the back and sat there patiently. Chad and Taylor were a pair, so Chad sat at the back while Taylor took Chad's basketball and sat behind Troy's empty seat. The other seating arrangements followed._

 _"Begin the play with me as the teacher!" Darbus called._

 _I ran up the stage and pretended to open a door._

 _"Sorry Miss. Darbus! My dad held me up for practice… again," I said, in a tearful voice._

 _"Better not happen again, Bolton," Darbus said, smiling at me. "Danforth, ball!"_

 _Taylor cowered._

 _"What? No! You can't take her away from me! She's my life!" she complained._

 _I swore I heard Chad laugh at that._

 _"Miss. Evans, would you like to present your announcement?" Darbus asked._

 _Zeke stood up and walked to the front._

 _"For many years, the drama department has had seasonal musicals. The musicals are an important component to the school's entertainment industry. Of course, auditions for supporting roles will be available. This season's play is Romeo and Juliet. Auditions will be held at lunchtime today," Zeke said, rather proudly._

 _"Thankyou, Miss. Evans."_

 _Zeke sat down and pretended to twirl his hair, even though his hair was way to short._

 _"McKessie?"_

 _Chad stood up and grabbed the long stick that was at the back of the stage. He strode up to the front and in doing so, he hit the desk that Taylor pretended to sleep on._

 _"The school decathlon has also been running for years, and it is part of the academic success of the school. Significant competitions are held every term and it I am delighted to announce that our team has several open spots for people to enter. An entry sheet will be on the cafeteria wall," Chad said, poshly._

 _Wow. Who knew Chad could speak like that!_

 _A girl called Kelsi, who sat in Jason Cross' seat raised her hand sleepily._

 _"Cross?"_

 _"Tell us more about your performance on Broadway," she said._

 _The whole class groaned on point and it was actually very funny, until…_

 _"Bolton! How many times do I have to tell you that hat are not permitted in my class!" Darbus said suddenly._

 _My head jolted up and I stared at her incredulously. I thought Matsui had told her that I didn't need to take my cap off._

 _"Bolton! First warning! Second warning! Third warning!"_

 _Without notice, Darbus whipped the cap off my head. Immediately, I face-planted into the table, attempting to hide my face._

 _"Bolton doesn't do that, Miss," Darbus said to me._

 _I kept silent. Troy, please help me._

 _"Give it back to her, Miss. Darbus," Troy ordered. "Did you not hear what Matsui said to all the teachers?"_

 _Phew! What a lifesaver!_

 _I felt the cap being placed back on my head and when I looked up, the whole class was peering at me. Was I embarrassed? No. After 2 years of acting, performances and interviews, my confidence had been boosted. I was confident on the stage and I could handle embarrassment well. This was no problem._

 _HSM_

 _I was sure that Sharpay hated me at the moment because I saw her hushedly whispering to the rest of the gang, occasionally glancing my way with an evil glint in her eye. I understood her motive, however, as I did say some cruel words to her and I did hate on her favourite celebrity, although, it was not enough to hate someone! For example, Jacob Platelle raped me and I didn't hate him!_

 _"Anne," Troy whispered from behind me. I didn't jump at the sudden call._

 _"What?" I asked._

 _"They're talking about you."_

 _"They? You mean Sharpay?" I asked. He nodded in reply. "I noticed. Did you hear what she's saying?"_

 _"Something about how you're a bad influence," he said, taking a seat next to me on a separate lunch table._

 _"Me? A bad influence?" I scoffed._

 _Troy put his hand over my hand to reassure me._

 _"I told you that Sharpay is judgemental. If anyone dares to insult her, they are immediately the enemy. You have to be that careful," he explained._

 _I took a bit out of my lunch._

 _"I know. I've always been that type of girl who is usually calm, sarcastic and unemotional. I don't show much happiness, anger or sadness, but you know I do feel. I showed you sadness at the cliff, and it was inevitable that I would show some anger at Sharpay after she said what she said. Sometimes it gets a little too much," I sighed._

 _Troy intertwined our fingers as if it was what friends did._

 _"It's not your fault. I think her hate towards you is her defence mechanism. Hardly anyone dares to stand up to her. You are one of the few who has," he added._

 _"Did you?" I asked._

 _"Oh yeah. She hated me for years," Troy started. "In middle school, when we were in sixth grade, Sharpay was new. She walked into school like she owned it and turned down friend requests like she was too good for friends, which is ironic because she told_ _you_ _that_ _you_ _were too good for friends. That's not true. Anyway, one day, she came up to me and asked me to be her 'pretend boyfriend' so her parents could see that she was mature enough for boys."_

 _I laughed._

 _"Wow, she was desperate. You turned her down?" I asked._

 _"Most definitely. I told her that if she was too good for friends, she was also too good for boys. Once I told her that, she stormed away to the bathroom to fix her hair. From then on, she hated me," Troy recounted._

 _"How'd you become friends after that?" I inquired._

 _Troy grinned._

 _"You see, Sharpay had always had a little 'thing' for Zeke and Zeke also like her back. Sometime during freshman year, they began dating and that brought the group together. It started off with Sharpay, Zeke, Chad and me, but then last year, Chad and Taylor started dating. Then you came this year and joined. That's the evolution of our group," he said._

 _I took another bite._

 _"Every had a thing for Stacy Brighton?" I asked slyly._

 _Troy clutched his heart with his free hand and stared at me, faking shock._

 _"God, no! How can you even ask that?" he gasped dramatically._

 _"Go join drama club," I replied sarcastically._

 _"You should too."_

 _I shook my head._

 _"Two reasons: Evans is there and I need to protect my identity," I reasoned defiantly._

 _Troy squeezed my hand tighter and I stared at our hands that were still holding the other._

 _"You keep saying that, but you know you have to reveal yourself someday. Hiding is not the answer," he advised._

 _I looked down in deep though. I could feel him studying my cap-covered head with his gorgeous blue eyes that could melt me in seconds._

 _"It's hard," I said, looking back up into his eyes. "One side of me is desperate to reveal me so I can be free and act normal, but the other side doesn't because of judgement and fake people. I'm scared the people will judge me for who I am and what's on the internet. The internet loves gossip and I'm scared that people will take that gossip about me from the internet and use it against me at school. I also hate fake people. I'm sure at least a crowd of kids will suck up to me because I'm 'famous' and they want shout outs. But now, I guess I'm being hypocritical because I'm also a fake person. I hide my identity, disguise myself, lie and I also…"_

 _Troy put a finger to my lips, cutting my off from my rambling._

 _"You don't have to stop one of our basketball games and announce it to the whole gym. You can just walk into school without your cap or glasses. I know it's not easy, but you've got to take a chance sometimes," he said._

 _I grinned._

 _"How very inspirational," I smiled teasingly._

 _"Shut up, Anne," Troy smiled back._

 _Suddenly, a new thought entered my head and my smile faltered. I felt my face turned serious again._

 _"Troy?"_

 _"Yeah?"_

 _"What do you know about Jacob Platelle?" I asked._

 _Troy narrowed his eyes._

 _"Why do you want to know? Don't you hate him?" he asked._

 _I shook my head._

 _"I don't hate people if they do something bad to me. There's a reason for why he did what he did. Anyway, I want to know if rape is the worst thing he's done."_

 _Troy nodded slowly, giving in._

 _"Jacob Platelle joined in eighth grade. He immediately became popular because he was on the football team and apparently, he was attractive," Troy scoffed. "Other than that, there wasn't really a reason to like him; he was a bully, he hurt people and he started rumours. There were also a rumour that he murdered someone."_

 _I raised an eyebrow._

 _"Do you believe that?" I asked, testing him._

 _Troy shook his head._

 _"No. I don't believe in rumours unless I was a witness. Murdering someone just seemed too violent for someone like Jacob. Sure, he hurt and raped, but I never believed that he killed."_

 _I smiled._

 _"People say that you and Jacob Platelle are enemies…" I trailed off._

 _Suddenly, our private conversation was called to a halt by none other than Sharpay Evans, standing tall with her hands glued to her hips and a fake smile plastered on her doll face._

 _"Troy. Don't you think that…_ _thing_ _is a bad influence?" she spat harshly._

 _"Wow, way to boost one's ego," I mumbled._

 _Troy heard that and grinned for a second._

 _"First of all, she is_ _not_ _a thing and she has a name…" Troy got cut off._

 _"She hasn't told anyone her name. How do you even know she has one?" Sharpay asked angrily._

 _Troy remove his had from mine and crossed his arms._

 _"She has told people her name, you're just not one of the people she's told."_

 _"Let's hear it then," Sharpay challenged._

 _Troy laughed._

 _"Sharpay, surely you know by now that I do not disclose private information. It should be a well know fact," Troy said._

 _"A name can't be that private!" Sharpay objected._

 _I cleared my throat, attracting their attention._

 _"I beg to differ because I think my name is very private," I retorted._

 _"Are you seriously_ _that_ _scared to share your identity?" she gibed._

 _I huffed._

 _"I only share my identity with people I trust."_

 _"Why can't you just do it like everybody else?" Sharpay screamed, drawing the attention of the rest of the cafeteria. "Everyone else tells us their name and everyone else shows their face!"_

 _I smirked._

 _"I enjoy being unique, thank you very much."_

 _Sharpay stood closer to me._

 _"My pleasure," she raged. "Who knows what you may be hiding under that ugly cap. You face might be even uglier which is why you don't want to show it."_

 _I laughed._

 _"Sharpay, you're one to talk. If I were to rate your beauty as a percentage, I would rate it 1%. You may have an extremely dolled up face, but what's under there? A face that_ _needs_ _makeup. What about what's even below that? The other 99% is the beauty of your heart. Clearly, the beauty of your heart is inexistent. You're cold, bitter, selfish and judgemental. If you really want to be beautiful, I suggest you change your ways," I sassed._

 _Sharpay looked as if she would punch my in the face, but she held back her anger as she saw the whole cafeteria staring at us._

 _"This is not over," she seethed, stalking away, but before she exited the cafeteria, she shrieked at the rest of the student body, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE LOOKING AT?"_

 _I snorted at her dramatic exit._

 _"Very inspirational, Montez," Troy said._

 _"It's part of being a good influence, Bolton," I smirked._

 _"Touché."_

 _"Speaking of which, do you and the rest of the gang want to come to one of my concerts? I have free VIP tickets for 5 people," I offered._

 _I whipped the tickets out of my pocket and laid them out on the table in front of me._

 _"You're inviting Sharpay?" he asked._

 _I shrugged._

 _"Yeah, why not. They're VIP and I think it will be special."_

 _"Oh, sure. That's great. Thanks, Anne. I'm sure they'll appreciate it," Troy said, putting the tickets in his own pocket. "Since you've invited me to something, I can invite you to our gang meet up tonight. It's at my house this time."_

 _"I love angering people, so why not?" I said._

 _HSM_

 _I entered Troy's house carefully and stared at the features of it. Troy had taken me to his house after school and everyone else would be coming at 4 o'clock, which was in half an hour. Pictures of him when he was younger hung on the walls, most of them consisting Chad and his basketball and the rest were with his parents. I observed the all the pictures carefully, but noticed one in particular or Troy when he was about 6 years old, smiling next to who I assumed was his mother, who was cradling a newborn baby._

 _"Troy, you never told me you had a sibling," I said, turning around to face him._

 _He shuffled slightly and looked down._

 _"I don't."_

 _I quickly pieced the information together and a wave of realisation washed over me, making my feel guilty for asking that question._

 _"Oh my god! I'm turning into Sharpay!" I gasped._

 _"What?" Troy asked, looking up at me._

 _Oh yeah, he didn't know what was going through my head._

 _"Sharpay jumps to conclusions, remember? I just did that. So saying that I was like Sharpay was my apology," I explained, not even understanding what I had said._

 _"I don't understand you, but thanks for the sympathy and you're nothing like Sharpay," Troy countered. "That's a common misconception."_

 _"What happened?" I cautioned._

 _Troy shrugged sadly._

 _"Stillbirth."_

 _I felt a tear slip from my eye for some reason. It wasn't like I knew who the baby was or was close to Troy's family. I just felt a sense of empathy. I'm guessing Troy saw this because he pulled me into a hug._

 _"Don't cry," he comforted, rubbing my back._

 _"Sorry," I mumbled into his shoulder. "I don't usually cry like this."_

 _I felt him shake his head._

 _"It's good to show emotions sometimes, you know?"_

 _Then what happened? Guess! Our little moment was interrupted by a door, at the end of the corridor, opening._

 _"Troy, who's this?" the lady asked._

 _I lifted my head off his shoulder and peered over at the woman who had blonde hair and green eyes, dressed in an apron. So this was where Troy got his good looks from._

 _"Hey, mom!" Troy said, weakly._

 _"Troy!" she scolded. "How rude of you to make a guest cry already."_

 _I laughed softly._

 _"Don't worry, Mrs. Bolton. He didn't make me cry," I assured her._

 _"Good. Good. And it's Lucille for you, dear," Lucille said._

 _I walked over to Lucille and stuck out my hand. She gladly took it and we shook._

 _"It's Gabriella Montez, but don't tell_ _anyone_ _," I whispered._

 _She quickly removed her hand from mine in shock and glanced at my cap-and-glasses-covered face. I took my them both off, revealing my face that was clear of any makeup except for mascara._

 _"Oh my!" she gasped, then she called out to Troy, who was staring at the floor, "Troy! You didn't tell me your friend was Gabriella Montez!"_

 _This knocked him out of his trance, but immediately, the door swung open, cueing me to hastily put my cap and glasses back on. How unexpected! I could list what would happen if the person who walking in saw my face, but you probably already know._

 _"Did someone say Montez?" Chad asked, walking in with his shoes on, as if he owned the house._

 _I crossed my arms in play hate._

 _"Yes, we were talking about Juan Montez, the brother Gabriella Montez killed," I smirked._

 _It took some time for that to register in Chad's brain._

 _"HOLY! How can you even say that, New Girl? Don't think you know so much about her life to start gossiping about it! I know for a_ _fact_ _that she never had a brother," Chad growled, glaring at me._

 _Lucille slammed the door behind her, begging for attention. Everyone's eyes turned to her._

 _"Now, now. Chad, dear. You know I don't tolerate rudeness in this house," Lucille said._

 _Chad looked at her I perplexity._

 _"What? How? You don't even know her, Lucille! Do you even know how rude_ _she_ _is, and you let her in your house?" he asked harshly._

 _Lucille crossed her arms as well._

 _"Chad, I know more than you ever will if you continue being so rude."_

 _Chad huffed and stormed away into what I thought was the living room. As soon as he was gone, Lucille bent down and whispered in my ear._

 _"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me. I expect you don't want fake friends," she said._

 _I laughed._

 _"I'm glad someone understands."_

 _She smiled at me._

 _"Go now with Troy to comfort Chad. He needs this sort of company when he's mad," Lucille suggested._

 _"Are you sure he would want_ _me_ _there?" I asked, unsurely._

 _"It's the best for him."_

 _HSM_

 _"Can someone tell me why_ _she's_ _here?" Sharpay demanded furiously._

 _"Yeah. Why's_ _Montez-Hater_ _here?" Chad added, equally as mad._

 _"I invited her. That's why," Troy answered._

 _I cleared my throat, gaining attention._

 _"Yes?" Taylor asked._

 _"I'd like to know_ _why_ _you defend Gabriella Montez so much," I said._

 _"Does it matter?" Zeke asked._

 _"Yes," I retorted. "You don't defend other celebrities."_

 _Sharpay glared at me as if I had just said something extremely insulting to her._

 _"Unlike you, we_ _care_ _about her because she made a good change to the entertainment industry. Before she came, all celebrities were famous for doing nothing, but showed that you actually_ _do_ _have to work to become successful. As well as that, we hate it when others insult others," she explained._

 _"So what would you do if she walked through the door right here, right now?" I challenged._

 _"I would give her a big hug saying that I love her," Sharpay replied._

 _I heard Troy snort from the other side of the room. Sharpay turned her head swiftly, so her hair flipped in Zeke's face._

 _"What is it, Troy Boy?" she asked._

 _Eww. Pet names?_

 _"Nothing. If you saw Gabriella Montez, you wouldn't give her a hug saying that you love her. I can't imagine you doing that," he laughed._

 _Sharpay glared and turned her attention back to me._

 _"I keep asking you: Why do you hate her so much if you don't even know her?" she asked._

 _This time it was me who snorted._

 _"I never hate anything without a reason. Do you really want to know why I hate her?" I asked._

 _Everyone except Troy nodded._

 _"Don't ask me why I bother to get to know her if I hate her. She killed her brother, and her mom killed herself because of that. Her dad and her friends turned against her after she killed him.." I got cut off from continuing._

 _"Objection," Troy held up his hand to silence me. "Gabriella Montez did_ _not_ _kill her brother. It was all an accident. There were other people involved and you also haven't included what Gabriella herself went through."_

 _"Troy, how would you know this much about her. She doesn't even have a brother!" Chad exclaimed._

 _"Next objection. Mind your language. She_ _had_ _a brother that died from an attack," Troy said._

 _"Troy! I didn't know you followed Gabriella Montez's life as much as we do!" Taylor said._

 _I coughed again._

 _"My turn to make an objection," I began. "None of you know_ _anything_ _about Gabriella Montez."_

 _HSM_

 _I laid on my bed, thinking about what had happened today. My 'acquaintances' kept pushing me. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I knew Zac was home, but I also wanted to see who it was. I leapt down the stares and grabbed the door handle, swinging the door open._

 _Jacob Platelle._

 _"Jacob."_

 _I felt Zac standing behind me, surveying our guest._

 _"Jacob Platelle?" he asked._

 _"That is correct, sir," Jacob nodded. "I'd like to speak to Gabriella, preferably in private, but you can listen if you really want to."_

 _Zac went ushered Jacob in and closed the door behind him._

 _"You can go to her room," he said._

 _I lead Jacob up to my room, gesturing for him to sit in my chair, while I sat on my bed._

 _"What is it you want?" I asked._

 _Jacob stood up and began to pace._

 _"Can I expose you?" he asked._

 _Wait… what?_

 _"What? Why?" I asked._

 _"See, you are a great person, Gabriella. You do nothing without a reason. If I were to tell your secret, you would tell mine. I hate being the 'fake Jacob Platelle' who's perfect in every way; Jacob Platelle, the captain of the football team; Jacob Platelle, the hottest boy in the grade. Nothing about me is true. It's true, I'm an abuser and a rapist. I believe it's better if I'm exposed to be hiding behind a fake identity. Same goes for you, you know," Jacob explained._

 _I laughed sarcastically._

 _"Jacob, did you realise that even if you did expose me, I wouldn't have exposed you. I don't think I should be the one sharing_ _your_ _secrets. Anyway, you shouldn't think so bad of yourself. What you've done is the past and should be forgotten," I said._

 _"Gabriella, don't be so hypocritical. You also think badly of yourself and you haven't forgotten what you_ _think_ _you have done in the past. You didn't kill your brother and just because you lost the people you loved, doesn't mean it was your fault," Jacob said, standing in front of me._

 _"Jacob, I know I'm a hypocrite. I do bad stuff to myself and tell others not to do it, but I can't help it. I can't help talking badly about myself because it's true," I replied._

 _Jacob shook his head._

 _"No, Gabriella. Every single day, I hear you say that you hate Gabriella Montez, at least once. It's not healthy to hate yourself. I also want to know why you haven't thrown me out the window yet. I have done so much for you and I'm under the impression that I am dislike by you."_

 _"I never hated you. All I want to know is the reason why you did what you did. I believe there is a reason for everything that happens. You couldn't have just done it because you_ _wanted_ _to," I said._

 _Jacob sat back down and stared at my balcony, as if he was daydreaming._

 _"I had a loving family until I was 5. Then, my dad started to drink and smoke. Sometimes when he was drunk, I saw him hit my mom. He would slap her, touch her, punch her and all that nasty, bloody stuff. One time, I even caught him raping her. This went on for 8 years, until the day after your birthday. On that day, my dad ended up killing my mom. I was heartbroken. I figured that the best way to deal with anger was to take it out on someone else. My dad did it, so why couldn't I?" he retold._

 _So this was his story?_

 _"I remember that day very clearly," I said. "But why me?"_

 _Jacob sighed and laid his head in his hands. Finally, he looked up, his brown eyes shining with tears._

 _"I was jealous, so very jealous of you. You were smart, sporty, talented and beautiful. The reason I bullied you at school was because of my jealousy, selfishness and greed. I was jealous of what you could do, selfish for your talents, and greedy for your happiness. At that time, I had no idea that your father would end up abusing you and you would lose everything. The day after Juan died, my mother died and I was so jealous of you that I wanted to hurt you so I could be better. Honestly, I was a little surprised when your dad allowed me to, but at the moment, I was so angry to even think about what I was doing. I regret that so, very much and I'm sorry."_

 _I smiled._

 _"You were forgiven from the beginning," I consoled. "You mentioned, when I first came to school, that you were accused of rape. How did you escape your father?"_

 _"My family short of love, but full of money. My father's job paid well and he kept an illegal stash of cash in a suitcase. You guessed it. I stole it the next year and booked a flight to my grandparent's house here in Albuquerque. I've been residing there ever since," Jacob explained._

 _"We have a lot more in common than you think," I said, as he looked at me, confused. "On my 14_ _th_ _birthday, my dad's abuse became too much and my mom killed herself as a 'birthday present' to me. I ran away then, to Jells Park. Coincidentally, Zac called me to wish me happy birthday. I told him what had happened and he came to get me."_

 _"I'm glad I can empathise with someone. I know I don't have the best reputation, but how will your friends take it?" he asked, hesitantly._

 _"Define friends," I chuckled. "No, Troy's the only one I've revealed myself to. I was going to jump off a cliff that day," I added, making him stare at me with concern. "Don't worry, he convinced me not to. Sharpay and the rest are acquaintances. I don't even know if I can categorise them as that because they hate me for apparently being 'rude' and hating their favourite celebrity. I think Troy will understand. He's such a kind soul."_

 _Jacob raised an eyebrow questioningly._

 _"You like him?"_

 _I feigned shock and clutched my hand to my heart._

 _"You could fool anyone with that face," Jacob laughed._

 _"I'm an actress, what do you expect?" I questioned._

 _"A pretty damn good one too. Hell, you've made fortunes and fans," he said, pausing, but then adding, "Sorry, I'll stop with the compliments – Troy might get jealous."_

 _"As if," I scoffed. "He does_ _not_ _like me like that!"_

 _"You sure? Seems like he worships the ground you walk on," he commented._

 _"He so does not! Although, Stacy Brighton, your 'soulmate' fits that description to Troy," I stated._

 _"Yeah, she does… wait… my_ _soulmate_ _?" he sputtered._

 _"Yeah," I shrugged innocently, but grinning madly at the same time. "You two would be the perfect match. Opposites attract."_

 _He smiled weakly at me._

 _"Thanks. Not many people would say that I'm the opposite to Brighton. I'm flattered," Jacob said._

 _There was a brief moment of silence before Jacob spoke again._

 _"You know, you should really consider your feelings towards Bolton. But unlike you said, two peas in a pod also attract, defying the rules of science magnetism," he started. "You're both calm, reserved, somewhat emotionless and kind. You know when someone steps over the line and you call them out for it. Bolton always complained when I hit on girls because you have to 'respect women.' I totally agree, but that was when I was stupid and selfish for popularity. You and Bolton love to hide your emotions. I've never seen him cry at school. He never shows anger towards the people who talk badly about him, but he also manages to keep a straight face if Chad or someone cracks a good joke. It's scary – like he's a robot or something."_

 _He paused as if waiting for me to say something._

 _"And me?" I asked, quietly._

 _"You are the same. You're calm. You don't lash out on people unless they step over the line like Sharpay did today. You're quiet. At school, back in Australia, you hardly talked. Your friends were loud, obnoxious and… creepy, but you were nice to me. Jealousy, remember? You don't show emotions much either. When Juan died, you didn't cry at school. You just wore a blank face like it was a façade over your heartbroken heart. I'm sure you'd also fight for women's respect too," he said._

 _"Ya think?" I asked jokingly._

 _"Yes, I really do. I'm not usually one to give out relationship advice, partly because I'm good at it and partly because people think it's useless advice, but I think you two are a match made in heaven," he claimed. "That's also to say that I will not be jealous of Bolton if you two do decide to hook up."_

 _I rested my chin on my hand and stared into his eyes. He seemed sincere, like he wasn't lying. It seemed like he wanted to change for the better. A little faith would be a big step in relationship building._

 _"I can think about it, but I'm sure he doesn't think of me like that."_

 _"Nonsense! I've seen the way he looks at you. So much care and concern. Plus, he was the first you trusted," Jacob added._

 _I laughed softly._

 _"You know, you sound like a girl now."_

 _"Do I? I didn't realise. Here, Gabriella. You see the real me. I have a girly personality now," he joked._

 _I rolled my eyes, but still smiled._

 _"So you really want to change?" I asked._

 _He nodded._

 _"I do," he confirmed. "Gosh, now I sound like I'm saying wedding vows. The real reason I came here was to ask for advice. Now that I've given_ _you_ _relationship advice, I think it's time that you give_ _me_ _advice."_

 _I thought about it for a while._

 _"Sit with me at lunch tomorrow."_

 _ **So how'd you like it. I appreciate the reviews, even though I haven't gotten many. It would mean the world if you commented on my 17 page chapter about the plot, characters, spelling and grammar mistakes, improvements, etc. Thanks!**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Bold: Author's Note/ Other**

Normal: Present

 _Italics: Flashback/ Song lyrics/ Texts_

 _I sat at a lone table on the side of the cafeteria with Troy, awaiting the arrival of Jacob Platelle. After we had sorted out our problems the night before, we had said goodnight on friendly terms, no longer strangers._

 _"May I sit?" I heard Jacob's voice say._

 _"Do," I replied._

 _I glanced over at Troy and was relieved to see that he didn't have a look of disgust or resentment on his face. Rather, he had confusion written all over it. Jacob placed his lunch tray in front of him, but turned to Troy instead of eating._

 _"Gabriella and I had a talk last night," Jacob started. I noticed that Troy looked even more confused that Jacob knew my name, but he also tensed like he thought we hooked up or something. "Don't worry, Bolton. I know you want to have Gabriella to yourself."_

 _I slapped his arm hardly, but he hardly flinched._

 _"Bolton, I know you know about what I have done to her in the past, but I can explain. I was so jealous of her, but not only that. My father hurt my mom so when I was younger, I thought that would work for me. When my father killed my mom, I was so mad, but also jealous of Gabriella, so she was my target," Jacob said._

 _"That's understandable," Troy nodded._

 _"I know that I have also done some… not so nice things to you and I apologise for it. When I poured juice all over your head in freshman year, I hadn't recovered from my violent habits. I guess my father rubbed off on me. I also called you names because, then again, I was jealous. You know how bullies work. They want to feel good and they do so by putting others down. I'd like to change," Jacob finished._

 _Troy surveyed Jacob's face carefully for a while, but then I let out a breath I didn't realise I was holding when he cracked a smile._

 _"We're good," he grinned._

 _Jacob also smiled and shook hands with Troy._

 _"Now, I don't expect us to become best friends, but we can be on friendly terms and you can always come to me for relationship advice," Jacob told Troy with a mysterious glint in his eyes._

 _"Relationship advice?" Troy asked._

 _"Yeah," Jacob stated as if it was obvious. "No offence, but you're not that great at hiding your feelings for Gabriella."_

 _I blushed and looked down. Luckily, my cap was covering my face._

 _"See, she's blushing."_

 _Wait, what? How did he know?_

 _"Gabriella, I've know you since we were 5. Don't think I don't know what you're thinking," Jacob said. "Also, Troy is not objecting so that means that he_ _does_ _like you."_

 _"Not true, man!" Troy deflected._

 _Suddenly, like the day before, someone interrupted our conversation. Again, it was Sharpay Evans._

 _"Oh! How's the little party going over here?" she asked, batting her eyelashes. "Since when were you, Platelle and 'Montez-hater' besties?"_

 _"Why so salty, Evans?" Jacob asked, like they weren't enemies._

 _"Why are you joining the loser table?" Sharpay retaliated._

 _Ahem! I'm not a loser!_

 _"Excuse me," I butted in. "If anything, you're the loser."_

 _Sharpay huffed._

 _"You know, I always look to Gabriella Montez to calm me down when I'm angry. I always try to be like Gabriella Montez because she's a good person, unlike you, and that is_ _not_ _something Gabriella Montez would say!" Sharpay scowled._

 _I fought to keep a straight face. She looked to me when she was angry? But she was angry at me? How did that work? Plus, she said that what I said was not something that I would say. Now that's confusing. I saw Jacob and Troy stifle laughs beside me._

 _"Something funny?" she hissed._

 _"No!" Jacob struggled. "Just your hair. It looks like a bird's nest."_

 _Sharpay screamed and walked as fast as she could with her heals out of the cafeteria to the bathroom._

 _"Wow," Troy clapped sarcastically. "She looks to you when she's mad, but you're the one she's mad at."_

 _"That's exactly what I was thinking!" I exclaimed happily._

 _Jacob's eyes flashed between us._

 _"See? This is like one of your couple's moments!" he noted._

 _Troy looked at Jacob menacingly. I was surprised he wasn't blushing, but then again I wasn't and we didn't show our emotions._

 _"Hey, Troy," Chad's voice called. "Why are you sitting with Platelle?"_

 _Troy turned around to face his friend._

 _"We sorted out our differences. We're friendly now," he informed Chad._

 _"Which is great because we can all be best friends now," Jacob continued._

 _"Contrary to what you said early about us_ _not_ _being best friends," Troy commented._

 _"You're right. Sorry, but I've realised that my attitude towards you guys was not acceptable and I want to change it. I'm sorry for all the things that I've done to you," Jacob apologised._

 _Chad looked hesitant, but patted Jacob on the back._

 _"Nah, it's good, man. I'm sure the rest of the team will be more than happy to make a truce with your team," he said._

 _"Actually, I was thinking of resigning from my role as football captain," Jacob told us._

 _We looked at him, shocked._

 _"What? Why? You're the best captain we've had," Chad said._

 _Jacob shrugged and shook his head._

 _"I used my bullying skills as a technique to make the teamwork hard. You guys haven't witnessed the practices so you wouldn't know. I was the equivalent to the devil."_

 _Chad and Troy looked as each other, communicating with their eyes._

 _"I think you should not resign," they said at the same time, which was scary. "Just change your techniques and they'll love you."_

 _Jacob's eyes filled with hope._

 _"Just like Troy loves her?" he asked, teasingly, jutting his thumb in my direction._

 _I groaned as Chad looked at Troy suspiciously._

 _"Love's a strong word," Troy opined._

 _Chad took a seat next to Troy and placed his beloved basketball on the table in front of him, using one of Troy's napkins to 'clean' it._

 _"And he doesn't deny his affection to her!" Chad cheered._

 _It was very rare that I saw boys multitask, but Chad was cleaning… and talking! Both at the same time!_

 _"Don't start planning a wedding now," Troy mumbled._

 _"See? I told you! He_ _does_ _like her!" Jacob pressed on._

 _I saw Troy roll his eyes, but was smiling at the same time._

 _HSM_

 _2 months later, my friendship with Jacob had blossomed. We hung out a lot and spent time together, but not as much as I did with Troy. With Troy, we spent most lunchtimes on the rooftop garden, or we went for a walk outside of school. It's funny because I realised that I connected more with boys than I did with girls. Sharpay certainly still hated me and Zeke, Chad, Taylor and Ryan showed no feelings towards me. Obviously, they were confused as to why Troy still hung out with me because I opposed all their opinions about myself. Like seriously! It was a celebrity we were fighting over._

 _During these past 2 months, Jacob had also bugged me about my relationship with Troy and how we should go out and kiss and stuff. I told him that it would only be an option if the rest of his friends found out about who I really was. It would be hard to date if we had to do it undercover. For example, if the paparazzi took photos of me and Troy at a café, Troy's friends would see it and find out that I was Gabriella Montez._

 _Anyway, it was the 9_ _th_ _of June, also know as my birthday – Gabriella Montez's birthday. It was the worst day of my life. The day when I had lost everything. Today was also a weekend which meant I didn't need to go to school, however, Sharpay had called a meeting at her house. Troy still invited me to those meetings, for some reason, and there, we argued endlessly about me. About how I was a good or bad person or how I was a hater. Sometimes, those arguments were not pretty. Today, it was at Sharpay's house again._

 _I arrived at the doorstep dressed in my usual cap and glasses, but this time, I did not wear a hoodie. I was dressed in a coat… like… I never wore coats! It was bizarre. The door swung open to reveal a very happy Sharpay, dressed in a pink sundress. Obviously, something very good had happened._

 _"Oh, it's you," she drawled._

 _"How very polite of you to invite me in," I replied, smirking, as I stepped into her house without asking._

 _I went straight into the living room and saw that everyone was already there, sitting on the couch and waiting to talk. Sharpay shoved past me and snuggled up with Zeke. How cute. If only it wasn't Sharpay. I sat down next to Troy, who was sitting on the floor._

 _"Hi," he whispered._

 _"Hey," I replied._

 _"Guys! Do you know what day it is today?" Sharpay said excitedly, but with a hint of evil in her voice. "It's Gabriella Montez's 17_ _th_ _birthday! Isn't that amazing?"_

 _I rolled my eyes. Of course she was happy about that. I felt Troy turn to look at me with concern, but I looked back saying that it would be okay._

 _"Sharpay, I know you're just trying to get me mad," I said._

 _"But seriously! It's amazing! She's one step closer to becoming an adult!" Sharpay squealed._

 _"Wow. Best day of my life," I said sarcastically._

 _"No need to be sarcastic if it really is the best day of your life. It definitely is my second best day of my life apart from my birthday," Sharpay said._

 _"Sharpay, stop," Troy cautioned._

 _"My birthday is my favourite day! You know why? Because I came into the world as a blessing. So did Gabriella Montez! But you? You're no blessing…" she got cut off by my phone ringing. I answered._

 _ **Author's Note: Here again, I'll put Gabriella's dialogue in bold for ease.**_

 _"Hello, is this Gabriella Montez?" said the voice on the other line._

 _" **Yes, that's me."**_

 _"This is Lucille Bolton, Troy's mom and I work at the hospital."_

 _" **What? What happened?"**_ _I panicked._

 _"I have recently found out that Zac Efron is your 'godfather.' He was in a car crash and is in hospital with a coma," she explained._

 _My heart raced faster and faster with every word she spoke._

 _" **And?"**_

 _"He suffered from minor brain damage, but the doctors have already done a surgery to fix that. He will be unconscious for a while, however, if not, he might not wake up," Lucille told me. "If you'd like, you can come and visit and if you don't mind, I'd like to see Troy as well."_

 _By now, tears were falling from my eyes, but I tried to hide them behind my cap._

 _" **Okay,"**_ _I said shakily._ _ **"I'll come."**_

 _Lucille hung up and I brought my quivering hand down to my pocket and inserted my phone in there. I stood up grabbed Troy's hand, not caring that everyone else was watching._

 _"Come," I whispered._

 _He followed confusedly, but obediently until we arrived outside. I got into the drivers seat and Troy got into the passengers'._

 _"Are you sure you should be driving?" he asked, doubtfully._

 _I shook my head._

 _"You can if you want to," I said softly, getting out from my side and swapping seats. "Drive to the hospital where your mom works. Zac was in a car crash. Now you know why my I'm a curse."_

 _As he drove, he grabbed my hand, squeezing it comfortingly._

 _"Don't ever say that. You're not a curse. You've definitely been a blessing to mine and Jacob's lives," he said. "Accidents happen."_

 _"But they're all on my birthday," I said._

 _"There are plenty more accidents in the world that fall on other days," he told me._

 _"Let me rephrase that. Bad things happen to the people I'm close to on my birthday, which is today," I said._

 _Troy parked near to the entrance and I ran ahead of him, desperate to see Zac in his almost-dead state. I strode up to the receptionist and banged on the counter._

 _"Yes?" she asked in an annoyed tone._

 _"I'm here to see Zac Efron," I said._

 _"You don't look like family," she said._

 _"He's the closet thing to_ _my_ _family," I said impatiently. "He's my godfather."_

 _"And him?" she asked, pointing at Troy._

 _"His mom is Lucille Bolton. She has requested to see him," I explained._

 _"Room 906."_

 _I grabbed Troy's hand and dragged him behind me. I knocked on the door of room 906 and it opened, revealing Troy's mom and a clean hospital room._

 _"It's you, sweetie!" she said, hugging me. Then she hugged Troy. "Hi, Troy."_

 _"Hi, mom," he replied._

 _"Do come in," she said._

 _More tears trickled down my face as I saw the pale figure of Zac lying on the bed, unmoving. Soon, my fears of losing everyone could be proven or removed. If Zac died, I would be forever broken and even might reconsider jumping off the beautiful cliff. If he stayed alive, it would be a miracle. Nothing stayed alive if I was alive._

 _I felt a finger wipe away my tears and I looked up to see Troy sadly smiling at me. His hands were warm, but calloused from playing basketball. They were comforting._

 _"Have faith," was all he said._

 _"That's hard when you have so little," I said bitterly. "Did your mom tell you to tell me that?"_

 _"No," he replied. "She asked me to come all the way here to tell me to clean my room."_

 _"Reasonable enough," I mumbled. "Your room is a pigs' sty."_

 _"That's the spirit," he smiled._

 _I stayed silent as I looked back to Zac. My lack of faith caused me to think that he would lay there unmoving forever._

 _"Hey," I reverted my attention back to Troy. "Don't think about that."_

 _He pulled me into a caring hug and stroked my back. I laid by head on his chest and I could hear his heart beating softly and consistently. His hugs were absolutely amazing and I inhaled his sweet scent, wishing to stay like that forever._

 _"What do you want to do?" he asked me softly._

 _"Stay like this," I mumbled._

 _He chuckled softly._

 _"I appreciate that but no can do. I think you should do something that gets your mind off things," he suggested._

 _"Go back to Sharpay's house," I said._

 _"You sure?" he asked._

 _"Positive."_

 _HSM_

 _We arrived at Sharpay's mansion once again and knocked on the door. I heard Sharpay sigh loudly and get up from the couch. She opened the door reluctantly and let us in as if she was_ _that_ _tired._

 _"Hey, man? Where'd you go?" Chad asked Troy._

 _"Montez-hater probably killed another family member and dragged Troy along to hide the corpse," Sharpay said._

 _Troy looked up, aghast._

 _"Sharpay!" he scolded. "Do_ _not_ _ever say anything like that again!"_

 _"Sharpay, would you ever say something like that to Gabriella Montez?" I asked slyly._

 _"What? No! Of course not! Only to you," she replied._

 _"You really worship her, don't you?" I smirked._

 _"She's my favourite celebrity, of course I worship her."_

 _"If I tell you, or rather show you some things, you're going to have an instant change of mind," I said._

 _"I doubt that," Sharpay said._

 _"Let's do a role play," I suggested. "I'm going to go out and come back in and you're going to demonstrate what you would do if Gabriella Montez walked in, alright?"_

 _Troy looked at me unsurely, but I confirmed it with a wink. He nodded. I walked out of the room, preparing to see their shock. I took off my cap and my glasses. Coincidentally, I had decided to put on more makeup for my birthday and that defined my face as 'Gabriella Montez's face.' I inhaled deeply and knocked on the door._

 _"Come in," Sharpay called._

 _I swung the door open and crossed my arms as I stood there smirking._

 _"Who's your favourite celebrity now?"_

 _Their faces were priceless. Absolutely priceless! Sharpay's looked as if a hair was out of place, Chad looked like he had just realised that he had lost his basketball, Taylor looked like she had failed Math and Zeke's looked like a recipe of his had failed. All their faces had shock written all over them except for Troy's. He was grinning madly, from ear to ear, supportively. I could tell that he was proud of me for revealing myself._

 _"Look…" Sharpay stuttered. "I'm sorry…"_

 _I held up my hand._

 _"See, this is exactly why I didn't tell you who I was," I said. "If I was anybody else, you wouldn't be apologising. One thing I hate is fake friends. If I had come to school as the famous me, I would have people falling at my feet, but I chose not to. It was an experiment to see if people would friend me for who I truly was. Obviously, no one really cares about me because I only made one friend: Troy. When I told him who I was 2 months ago, he didn't even ask for an autograph!"_

 _The stared at me speechless. Finally, Taylor spoke._

 _"You've made so many hate comments about yourself," she said, slowly._

 _"And in some way or another, you've all agreed to them," I added._

 _Their looks of shock turned to looks of guilt. Sharpay, especially, looked the most remorseful._

 _"We have done so much wrong," Zeke said._

 _"If that's your way of apologising, I forgive you," I said. "The complicated thing is that now you all want to be my friend, but if I wasn't called 'Gabriella Montez,' you wouldn't want to be my friend. How should I know if you're a real friend or a fake friend?"_

 _"How did Troy prove himself?" Zeke asked._

 _I glanced at Troy, who looked emotionless, once again._

 _"He was my friend from the very beginning. Before I told him who I was, he_ _never_ _pressured me to reveal myself or say my name. He never complained that I hid myself and he never insulted me. You, however, have constantly told me to go to heaven," I added darkly. "You're chance has flown out the window."_

 _Troy chuckled softly._

 _"What?" I asked._

 _"Sorry," he said. "I just love how 'un-cliché-ish' you are. Usually people say 'go to hell', not 'go to heaven' and 'time flew out the window'."_

 _"Wait to spoil the moment," I muttered. "Anyway, where was I?"_

 _"Look, Gabriella. We all make mistakes and I think we're willing to pay for them," Taylor said._

 _Chad, Zeke and Sharpay nodded in unison._

 _"Payment? I never requested payment," I replied. "I just need you to prove yourselves. Again, I say, I don't want people to befriend me because of my name, I want real friends who friend me for who I really am. Clearly, you guys do not like my personality so why become my friend now? This is how I normally act."_

 _"Is that all?" Sharpay asked._

 _"Hold up. Don't think it's easy. One thing you should know is that I can hardly trust anyone. Usually, kids come home on the first day of school saying that they befriended the whole grade, but it took_ _me_ _3 months to make one friend," I said._

 _HSM_

 _Two weeks later, I was relieved that Zac had woken up from his coma. If he didn't I don't know what I would've done. I decided to go to Sharpay's house and surprise her. I knocked._

 _"Hey, Gabriella. What's up?" she asked._

 _"Sharpay," I began. "Regardless of what you have done to me, I want to surprise you. Come."_

 _"Wait, surprise me? Are you sure?"_

 _"Just come."_

 _I drove Sharpay to my house, well Zac's house and led her out._

 _"Come," I said._

 _"Okay?" she hesitated. "Will I like this?"_

 _I laughed._

 _"Do you think I would surprise you with something bad?" I asked rhetorically._

 _She stayed silent as I predicted and I knocked on the door. Zac lazily opened the door and I smiled as Sharpay's eyes widened. When Zac saw Sharpay's excited and huge eyes, he shrunk back a little in fear._

 _"OH. MY. GOD." Sharpay literally screamed._

 _She engulfed Zac in a huge bear hug, different to the one she gave me before and Zac patted her back, glaring at me. When Sharpay let go, Zac forced a huge breath dramatically and asked us to come in._

 _"So you actually know Zac Efron?" Sharpay bombarded me with questions as we walked in._

 _I heard Zac laugh from behind me._

 _"Yup, the one and only," I replied._

 _"How do you even know where he lives?"_

 _"I come 'round often," I said, leading her up the stairs._

 _"Wait, shouldn't you ask permission to go into a room?" she asked carefully._

 _I opened the door and motioned for Sharpay to enter. I followed her and jumped onto my bed._

 _"Why are you doing that? I thought it was rude to jump on people's furniture and…" Sharpay trailed off._

 _I smiled weakly at her as sudden realisation hit her._

 _"Oh. My. God. You live here?" she gasped loudly. "How? What about your parents?"_

 _"My parents? As I said last time, a year after I killed my brother, my mom killed herself. My dad had been abusing me so I ran away to a nearby park. Keep in mind that this was all back in Australia, hence why I don't eat Australian food. I had met Zac in Hawaii, briefly, 2 years before and we kept in touch. It was my birthday that day and Zac called me to wish me 'happy birthday.' I told him my problems and he booked the first flight to me and brought me back here. He then became my unofficial 'godfather.' As you can see, you should not be envious of my life because it is far from perfect. Everything bad that has happened to me happened on my birthday. On my 13_ _th_ _birthday, my brother died and my dad began to abuse me; on my 14_ _th_ _birthday, my mom killed herself and two weeks ago, on my birthday, Zac was in a car crash and was put in a coma. I've lost everything and I don't know what I would've done if he died," I said, sadly._

 _Sharpay plopped on the bed next to me and rubbed my arm soothingly. Who knew she could be such a softy?_

 _"So this is the secret history of the famous Gabriella Montez, huh," she said._

 _"Troy said something similar to that when he came here," I laughed._

 _"You let Troy in your room?" Sharpay gasped dramatically._

 _I nodded._

 _"Yeah… why?" I asked._

 _"Did you guys like make out or something? Cause if you did, invite me over next time so I can watch the show," she grinned slyly._

 _"Woah, Sharpay. Troy and I are just_ _friends_ _," I said flatly._

 _She smiled dreamily._

 _"That's what everyone says," she said._

 _HSM_

 _I sat at the lunch table with the gang. Jacob had gone to make amends with the football team because I forced him to. But nonetheless, he agreed!_

 _"Troy!" Sharpay said suddenly. "I never got to go on that shopping trip with Anne!"_

 _I turned to Troy and we both laughed. The whole table rolled their eyes and chorused, "Couple's moment."_

 _"Hey!" I protested. "We're not a couple! And do you want to know a secret about Anne?"_

 _They all nodded and I leaned forward as if I was going to tell a very secretive secret._

 _"Anne's not real," I whispered._

 _"What?" Sharpay asked._

 _"When Chad called Troy when we were away, I was with him. I had told Troy to call me Anne because it's my middle name. So when Troy made the excuse that he was with me, I chimed in as 'Anne' with a really high-pitched voice and stuck-up attitude," I explained._

 _They all ohhed with realisation._

 _"That's good," Chad complimented. "I wouldn't have guessed unless I never in my life would've met her."_

 _"This might very well be the death of Anne," Troy said, faking a sad sigh._

 _The whole table laughed. Soon, Jacob slid in next to Troy and the whole table looked at him doubtfully._

 _"Hey?" he said slowly._

 _"Guys, this is Jacob as you all know," I introduced. "He's on a mission to change!" I added, pumping my fist in the air._

 _"Guys, don't have that attitude," Troy joined in. "He's genuinely sorry for everything."_

 _"How can you be sure?" Taylor whispered in my ear._

 _"I'm an actress. I can tell when people are lying," was my replied._

 _RING!_

 _I stood up and walked with Troy to our lockers, however, on the walls of the corridor hung posters. Not just any posters, but posters of me. Obviously, they weren't of me in my celebrity form, but photos of me with my cap and my glasses disguising me. Ironically, they were labelled 'New, old girl – the virgin.' Contrary to popular belief, I think I'd rather be a virgin than a slut._

 _"Wow. Those are beautiful," I commented sarcastically._

 _"I know, right? Stacy did a great job," Troy replied._

 _"You think it was her?"_

 _He nodded in reply before someone screamed._

 _"THE NEW, OLD GIRL IS A VIRGIN!" screamed Stacy Brighton._

 _My head whipped around to glare at her because she had alerted the whole corridor and the students were looking back and forth between me and her._

 _"You think I'm a virgin?" I asked coldly._

 _Stacy's rude and red face looked like it was about to scream for me to shut up, but I continued._

 _"I seriously don't get what's wrong with being a virgin," I said confidently, "But I just need to correct your mistake. I am_ _not_ _a virgin, in fact, I have had sex exactly 365 times."_

 _Gasps echoed through the hall and I spun on my heel and stalked off with my head held high. I entered my code for my locker and took out my books._

 _"That's some pretty damn confident things to say," Troy said when he arrived._

 _"Well, that's me," I shrugged, shutting my locker door and swinging my bag over my shoulder. "I don't get embarrassed," I elaborated._

 _"That's a lie. I've seen you blush before," Troy said._

 _"Never mistake blushing for embarrassment, Bolton," I lectured._

 _He closed his locker and we set off for English class._

 _"I wonder if the teachers have seen those posters," he said._

 _"They'd be proud of me for being pure," I replied in a monotone._

 _"That's good."_

 _"If only it were true," I wished. There was silence. "Anyway, what took you so long to follow me?"_

 _"Huh? Oh, I kinda did something," Troy said, scratching the back of his neck. He always did that when he was nervous._

 _"And?" I pushed._

 _"Uh…"_

 _"Spit it out, Bolton," I snapped._

 _"I kinda slapped her," he said sheepishly._

 _"You did that?" I asked sarcastically. "Wow. That's amazing. Seriously though, thanks for the backup, but I don't think she should've been slapped."_

 _"Oh yeah. I figured that out," he said._

 _"Are you going to apologise?" I asked._

 _"I probably should," he replied._

 _"Then what are you waiting for?" I asked._

 _"Gabs, we have to get to class," he stalled._

 _"I don't care," I snapped. "I want you to apologise right now!"_

 _"You're a good soul," he replied, walking away reluctantly._

 _After about 5 minutes, I saw Troy coming back towards me with his hand covering his right eye and a hunched back. I sighed. Stacy Brighton…_

 _"I'm assuming it didn't go too well," I said, crossing my arms._

 _"Nice observation," Troy muttered. "She punched me in the eye cause she thought I was mocking her."_

 _"Were you?" I asked._

 _"No," he answered, mumbling. "I think I sounded very sincere."_

 _"Well, since you say that, you probably weren't," I smirked._

 _"Whatever. My dad will kill me now for not being able to play basketball," he sighed._

 _"Basketball does really revolve around him, doesn't it?" I said._

 _He nodded._

 _"Let's go home," I suggested, taking his free hand to go to the principal's office._

 _I knocked the door and immediately, it opened like it had some sort of sensor._

 _"What brings you here, Mr. Bolton and Miss…" he trailed off._

 _"Montez," I added._

 _He looked at me knowingly because he was wondering if I had told Troy yet. Obviously, I had._

 _"Can we sign out?" I asked._

 _Matsui glanced at Troy who was still holding his eye and my hand._

 _"Keep safe," he said, nodding._

 _I nodded back at him and dragged Troy away from the school to his car. He pulled out his keys and unlocked it._

 _"Want me to drive?" I asked rhetorically._

 _He didn't answer, but just got into the passenger's seat while I got into the driver's._

 _"How'd it feel?" I asked suddenly._

 _We were currently driving to Troy's house and I had been there numerous times so I knew how to get there without directions._

 _"Well, I'm kind of immune to this face hitting thing because I always get hit by basketballs," he said. I scoffed. "So, she seemed kinda weak."_

 _"She should punch me next time," I said._

 _"You've had your fair share of punches," he said quietly._

 _Oh yeah. I forgot I had been abused every day for a year…_

 _"I haven't felt enough pain in the past 3 years," I shrugged._

 _Troy glanced at me and smiled._

 _"We have one more week of school left," he changed the subject._

 _"That's amazing," I said._

 _"You've only been to East High for half a year. The first half is always the worst," he informed me._

 _"I live for the worst," I replied casually._

 _"Uh huh. Sure you do," he said._

 _We arrived at Troy's house and went in. Since Troy's dad, Jack was at school and Lucille was at the hospital, we had it free to ourselves. I walked into the kitchen, to the freezer and took out an ice pack. I wrapped a dishcloth around it so it wouldn't be too cold and brought it to Troy. He lifted it up to his eye and quickly replaced his hand with it so I wouldn't see the damage._

 _"Can I make you a drink?" I offered._

 _"If you want," he shrugged._

 _I went back into the kitchen while Troy laid on the couch to rest his back. I started to make my amazing hot chocolate that everyone loved. As I was doing this, I began to daydream._

 _What would've happened if I never met Troy? If his locker wasn't next to mine? I'd probably have absolutely no friends for the rest of my life. That's an understatement. I started to ponder my feelings towards Troy. Did I like him like Jacob said? Did_ _he_ _like me? No. That wasn't possible. Why would Troy like someone like me? That girl who was a nerd, drama geek and a loner. An 'emotion-hider' and a 'used-to-be-suicidal-person.' On top of that, I was afraid to love._

 _Even though he had talked to me about it, I was still scared to love. In the back of my mind, some part of me still believed that I hurt the ones that were close to me. What would happen to the ones I loved, then? Surely love could conquer all, but would sacrifices have to be made for that to happen? If Troy and I fell in love, Troy could end up dying, killing himself, getting into a car crash or turn bad. That was what happened to everyone else, so why wouldn't it happen to Troy._

 _I walked back into the living room with the hot chocolate and sat down besides Troy. His eyes fluttered open and he smiled weakly at me. He took the cup and sat up. He took a sip and looked into my eyes with those amazing blue ones. Why do I keep thinking that?_

 _"This is nice," he said._

 _"Thanks. It's the only thing I can make," I said._

 _"It makes up for everything you can't make, then," he replied._

 _We sat in silence while he finished drinking it. I took the cup back to the kitchen and washed it, placing it on the drying rack to dry._

 _"How are you feeling?" I asked._

 _"Like my dad's going to kill me," he said._

 _I froze and thought of mine._

 _"Sorry," he apologised, seeing me tense up. "I didn't mean to say that."_

 _"It's okay. It's just me," I consoled him. "Can I see your eye?"_

 _He nodded briefly and then took off the ice pack, revealing the purple and black skin that surrounded his eye. The eye itself was half-closed and looked as if it would completely shut down soon. I reached out to touch it and surprisingly, he didn't flinch._

 _"Does it hurt?" I asked._

 _"Not much."_

 _"Good," I said, taking my hand off and he replaced the ice pack._

 _Such an intimate moment with him made my heart flutter and my thoughts divert to strangely romantic ones. I pictured myself cuddling with him or going on dates, holding his hand as we walked through the park or even kissing him. Yes, kissing him. My inner teenager was starting to come out, well, I was a teenager._

 _"Do you want to watch a movie?" I asked._

 _"Depends what type. I don't like sci-fi movies," he said._

 _"Really? Well, I like musicals and romance movie the most," I told him._

 _"Romance? I didn't think you liked that much."_

 _"Yeah, I like romance. But I don't like_ _The Notebook_ _," I said._

 _"Why not?"_

 _"When I first watched it, I was on a plane and I practically bawled my eyes out in every break up scene. It was so sad and heartbreaking that I never want to watch it again," I said._

 _"That's the point of the movie; to make you sad and emotional," Troy pointed out._

 _"I know. I don't like crying much. It blocks my nose and when I talk, I take really 'strangly' breaths," I shrugged. "You know, we should watch a Disney Movie, like_ _Beauty and the Beast_ _."_

 _He shrugged._

 _"I don't mind."_

 _HSM_

 _One and a half hours later, the movie was over and my eyes hurt from the light of the screen. It always happened. Every time I watched a movie, my eyes would hurt for like the next day. That's why I preferred to act in movies rather than watch them._

 _"That was beautiful," I commented._

 _"The songs are nice," Troy said._

 _"I'm jealous of the singers," I said, "because I don't get to sing their songs."_

 _"Can't you do a cover or something?" Troy asked._

 _"I suppose," I shrugged. "Takes time though."_

 _"Precious time."_

 _I turned to look at Troy and he was already looking into my eyes. My breath hitched for a moment as I got lost in those dreamy, blue eyes. I saw his eyes flick to my lips and back up to my eyes as if he was asking for_ _permission_ _. But then, as usual, a door flying open interrupted out moment._

 _"Troy! I didn't raise you to skip school like that!" Lucille exclaimed. "Oh, Gabriella! What happened?"_

 _"Long story short, Stacy Brighton pinned up posters, that said that I was a virgin, all over the school. Troy slapped her, but in his defence, he was sticking up for me, which I appreciate. I told Troy to apologise to her, but when he did, she punched him because she thought he was mocking her," I explained in as little words as possible._

 _"You're a good soul," Lucille beamed at me._

 _"Like mother, like son," I mumbled._

 _"What was that?" Lucille asked._

 _I shook my head, "Nothing."_

 _Lucille just nodded and walked out of the room, leaving us alone. I thought back to the time when prom had happened._

 _Flashback_

 _After Darbus had announced about prom, everyone had been going crazy and talked about it to no end. The only people who seemed sane were me and Troy. Of course, Troy had had just about the entire female population ask him to be their dates, but he turned all of them down._

 _"Why do you keep saying no?" I asked._

 _He shrugged, "I want the right person to ask me. It's a special night. I don't want to go with some girl who's looking for popularity."_

 _"I like your insight," I teased._

 _He laughed._

 _"Hey, that's just how I see it."_

 _The next week, people were STILL talking about prom and I was getting sick of it. How crazy and obsessive could you get? I still hadn't gotten a date yet and Troy hadn't either. The prom was next Friday, but no one would ask me anyway. Only Troy knew my name._

 _"Apparently they're going to reveal a theme for the prom today," Troy said, as we walked to assembly._

 _I crossed my fingers._

 _"Dear God, please be masquerade!" I prayed._

 _Troy laughed at me._

 _"What?"_

 _"No, it's just funny. That's all."_

 _We sat down next to each other and watched as Matsui walked up onto the stage to the microphone. He took out a piece of paper from his shirt pocket._

 _"Good morning students," he started._

 _A very un-simultaneous 'good morning' was mumbled back to him._

 _"It is my pleasure to announce the theme for our prom. It is going to be… masquerade!"_

 _I almost jumped out of my chair to cheer, but I could feel Matsui's gaze on me._

 _"This means that all of you will have to have some sort of mask that covers your face," he finished with a, "thankyou, I hope to see all of you there."_

 _We were all excused and I cheered outside the gym._

 _"Well, someone looks happy," Troy commented._

 _"Are you serious? I am beyond happy. I am over the moon, literally!" I said excitedly._

 _"Do you know who would look good in their mask?" he asked._

 _"Who?"_

 _"You," he said. "You cover yourself everyday so I'm sure you're a pro at it now. Therefore, since I need to look good at the prom," I smirked at that and he smiled and continued, "I need someone who's good at wearing masks."_

 _I stopped abruptly and Troy turned around to face me._

 _"Is that an invitation?" I asked._

 _"Do you want it to be?"_

 _"Yes," I replied. "I answered both of your questions."_

 _He stared at me for a moment, but then realised what I meant._

 _"Thanks! Now we both won't be dateless," he said and I laughed._

 _At lunch, his friends bombarded him with questions._

 _"Troy, did you like the theme?"_

 _"Troy, who are you going with?"_

 _"Troy, do you STILL not have a date?"_

 _"Troy, you should totally skip prom and fly to Greenland."_

 _We all turned to look at Jason who just shrugged._

 _"Just a suggestion," he said._

 _"Whoa, guys. Calm down," Troy said, putting his hands up. "I got myself a date!" he said, pointing at me._

 _Sharpay shrieked._

 _"You're going with that… thing?" she exclaimed._

 _"Don't call her that, besides, she would be great to go with, if you think about it. The whole 'mask-wearing' thing really suits her," Troy explained._

 _"He's got a point," Chad agreed._

 _"Since when do YOU see points?" Taylor asked her boyfriend mockingly._

 _Next Friday was the day of prom. I had put on one of my best dresses. A halter neck-dark blue dress went down to my knees. I also put on some makeup, even though no one was going to see it. Honestly, I was really excited for the prom. Troy was picking me up at 6._

 _The doorbell rung and I literally jumped down the stairs, hugging Zac and grabbing my mask from the table._

 _"Have fun," he said._

 _"I will," I grinned._

 _I swung open the door and saw Troy's jaw drop. He just stood there for a moment before shaking his head and blinking._

 _"I hope that explains how you look," he said. "You look amazing."_

 _He slipped on a corsage on my hand and kissed my cheek._

 _"Thanks," I smiled, putting on my mask. "Don't want people to recognise me in the car."_

 _Instead of his truck, Troy had borrowed his dad's car. He opened the passenger's door for me to sit and then went over to his side._

 _"Honestly, I wouldn't have minded if you brought your truck," I said._

 _"But that's so unromantic," he complained. "Besides, my truck is getting repaired today."_

 _"Whatever." I rolled my eyes. "You always have an excuse for everything, don't you."_

 _"Uh huh," he nodded._

 _He parked in his parking spot in the school carpark. The school was holding the prom in the gym which was not half-adequate to hold a formal dance in._

 _"Is it just me or do you think that prom should be held at an actual restaurant," I said, getting out of the car. Troy closed the door behind me._

 _"No, I totally agree. Like the gym? I thought it was a joke when Darbus told us that it was going to be held in the gym," he said._

 _"Thankyou," I said._

 _We walked into the gym and were surprised at the decoration. The ground looked like a gym, but the rest of the room was very nice. There was a tree with lights strung around it. There were round table scattered around the room and there was a stage at the far end of the gym._

 _"Look, there's Chad and Taylor. This is the first time Chad's ever been early for something," Troy said, pointing at his two friends._

 _"Cause Taylor forced him," I mumbled._

 _I followed Troy to the table and slumped into my chair. Chad and Taylor ignored me and started a conversation with Troy. Soon Sharpay and Zeke came. I could tell it was Sharpay because she was wearing a pink mask, pink dress, pink shoes, pink makeup and a pink headband. Like I said, it was pretty obvious._

 _I leant to Troy and asked, "Do we have to take off our masks?"_

 _He turned to me with wide eyes, "I didn't think of that."_

 _"Wish me luck," I muttered sadly._

 _After we ate that delicious dinner, the dancing started. None of us had stood up to dance yet until a slow, romantic song came on. It was one of the songs that I had done a duet with Zac. Actually, it was the favourite song that I had sung._

 _"Oh, this is my favourite song!" I said out loud._

 _Everyone at the table stared at me._

 _"I thought you didn't like Gabriella Montez," Sharpay smirked._

 _"I know," I said simply._

 _I turned to Troy and he smiled weakly. Then he stood up and held out his hand to me._

 _"May I have this dance?" he asked._

 _I smiled and took his hand. He led me to the dance floor._

 _ **Author's Note: The characters will sing while they dance. Troy:**_ _Underlined,_ _ **Gabriella:**_ _ **Bold,**_ _ **Both:**_ _Normal (No Italics.)_

 _I started to sing softly._

 _ **Every time I see you, I want to melt into the ground**_

 _ **You don't know how I feel with you always around**_

 _ **The thought of you leaving leaves a cut right in my heart**_

 _ **Seems like now is the moment so baby let us start**_

 _ **The way you always touch me makes me want to feel your body**_

 _ **You make me feel the way I'm exactly meant to be**_

 _ **The thought of us breaking makes me miserable for days**_

 _ **Seems like you are the one, you're only here to stay**_

 _Then Troy joined in with his beautiful voice._

 _Let's just stay together_

 _With you till the very end_

 _But with you it doesn't matter_

 _You will always be my friend_

 _Oh the softness of her hair_

 _ **And the touch of his fingers**_

 _And the smile that he/she leaves on my face_

 _ **Oh the way she shows her care**_

 _And the kiss that lingers_

 _And baby this will never be a race_

 _One look at you makes my heart feel like a bird_

 _I don't need to say anything if you haven't heard_

 _I love you, I'll love you, you'll always have my heart_

 _There is nothing that could take us apart_

 _A day without you makes my whole wide world shut down_

 _I only want to hear your voice, that beautiful sound_

 _I know that you are with me everywhere and anywhere_

 _I don't have to be afraid, you're always there_

 _Let's just dance together_

 _Hold me till the very end_

 _But with you it doesn't matter_

 _You will always be my friend_

 _Oh the softness of her hair_

 _ **And the touch of his fingers**_

 _And the smile that he/she leaves on my face_

 _ **Oh the way she shows her care**_

 _And the kiss that lingers_

 _And baby this will never be a race_

 _Let us take hold of our world together_

 _I can count on you to make me better_

 _But with you I know that surely this could be a sign_

 _I know that in my heart you'll always be mine_

 _Take my hand and run away forever_

 _Baby this can be the best time ever_

 _But with you I know I'm free to smile laugh or cry_

 _I know that I'll love you till the day I die_

 _Oh the softness of her hair_

 _ **And the touch of his fingers**_

 _And the smile that he/she leaves on my face_

 _ **Oh the way she shows her care**_

 _And the kiss that lingers_

 _And baby this will never be a race_

 _Please don't leave me_

 _Cause we were always meant to be_

 _Show me that smile on your face_

 _Baby this will never be a race_

 _I rested my head on Troy's shoulder and kept on dancing even when we had finished singing, but Matsui told us to go back to our seats. He walked up on stage._

 _"It is now the time of the night, when we announce the kings and queens of the prom," he started and everyone clapped. "Tonight's prom king is… Troy Bolton!" A few students stood up and cheered while the rest of the room clapped. Troy walked up onto the stage, trying to look as small as possible. Unfortunately for him, it didn't work. Matsui place a crown on his head. "Our prom queen tonight is… Troy's date!"_

 _I sighed in relief when he didn't say my name, but then shrunk back when I felt the stared._

 _"Go!" Taylor whispered in my ear._

 _"Oh yeah, right," I said, jumping up from my seat and hurriedly walked up to the stage._

 _I felt the crown on my head and heard cheers._

 _"Now, it is time for the dance," Matsui announced. "And tonight, we have decided to change things up. We have decided that the couple here will have to sing a karaoke while they dance."_

 _My eyes popped out of my head and Troy's did too. The crowd was cheering loudly; it was almost deafening._

 _"You've done this so many times," I looked at Troy curiously. "Don't you have to sing on set?"_

 _I nodded._

 _"Oh yeah."_

 _The song 'Can I Have This Dance' came on. I immediately recognised it and realised that it was the perfect song to dance to._

 _During the intro, I whispered to Troy, "Imagine if Zac was the one doing this."_

 _He grinned at me._

_**Take my hand, take a breath**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Pull me close and take one step**_ _ **  
**_ _ **Keep your eyes locked on mine**_ _ **  
**_ _ **And let the music be your guide**_ **  
**  
 _Won't you promise me_ **(** _ **now won't you promise me, that you'll never forget**_ **)** **  
** _We'll keep dancing_ **(** _ **to keep dancing**_ **)**  
Wherever we go next

It's like catching lightning, the chances of finding someone like you  
It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do  
And with every step together, we just keep on getting better  
 _ **So can I have this dance?**_ _(Can I have this dance?)_  
Can I have this dance?

 _Take my hand, I'll take the lead_ _  
_ _And every turn we'll be safe with me_ _  
_ _Don't be afraid, afraid to fall_ _  
_ _You know I'll catch you through it all_ __

 _And you can't keep us apart_ **(** **even a thousand miles can't keep us apart** **)  
** _Cause my heart is_ **(** _ **cause my heart is**_ **)** wherever you are

It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you  
It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do  
And with every step together, we just keep on getting better  
 _ **So can I have this dance?**_ _(Can I have this dance?)_  
Can I have this dance?

 _ **Oh no mountains too high and no**_ oceans too wide  
Cause together or not, our dance won't stop  
 _ **Let it rain,**_ let it pour  
What we have is worth fighting for  
You know I believe, that we were meant to be  
 _Oh_

It's like catching lightning, the chances of finding  
Someone like you **(** _ **like you**_ **)**  
It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do **(** _ **way we do**_ **)**  
And with every step together, we just keep on getting better

 _ **So can I have this dance?**_ _(Can I have this dance?)_  
Can I have this dance?  
 _ **Can I have**_ this dance?  
Can I have this dance?

 _At the end of the song, people clapped and cheered and we went back to our seats. The rest of the people at our table cheered on Troy, but didn't say a word to me. How discouraging._

" _Now, it's time to choose whether to take your masks off or keep them on," Matsui said._

 _I caught his eye, but looked away._

" _TAKE THEM OFF! TAKE THEM OFF! TAKE THEM OFF!" the majority of the gym cheered._

" _Alright, alright, majority wins. Reveal yourselves," Matsui said, before he walked off the stage._

 _Just about everyone apart from me took off their masks. I stared down at the table and didn't move. Suddenly, I felt my mask being ripped off my face, but I knew Sharpay did it because I felt her long nails. Instantly, I face-planted into the table and didn't move when someone pushed my face over._

" _Sharpay!" Troy snapped. "Why did you do that?"_

" _She doesn't have THAT much dignity to protect, does she?" Sharpay asked._

" _Give it back to her," Troy ordered._

 _While they were distracted, I made a move to get up and cover my face. I ran out of the gym, into the carpark. I contemplated running home and I did just that. It was only down the street after all. When I got to my door, I heard footsteps running behind me. I didn't dare look in case it was someone other than Troy._

" _I'm so sorry, Gabs. I didn't know Sharpay would do that," Troy's voice panted._

 _I turned around._

" _It's okay. It's not your fault. I don't blame her though. She wants to see," I said. "Let's go inside."_

 _I knocked on the door and Zac's surprised face appeared._

" _Someone stole my mask," I explained, walking in. Troy followed._

 _Zac sighed and closed the door._

" _You'll tell them someday," he said._

 _End flashback_

 **Author's Note: Wow, that's a long flashback.**

"Gabriella!" Troy snapped his fingers in my face.

I blinked and stared at him.

"You were thinking about prom, weren't you?" he asked knowingly.

"You know it," I grinned.

 **Author's Note: The first song was made up by me while I was in the car, going to violin class. The second song was obviously 'Can I Have This Dance' from High School Musical.**

 **I'm sorry about the wait. I went overseas and didn't bring my stuff with me.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Bold: Author's Note/ Other**

Normal: Present

 _Italics: Flashback/ Song lyrics/ Texts_

I sat at the lunch table with two friends and four acquaintances. Yep, still acquaintances. It was the last day of school and I'm telling you, it was chaos. Everyone was jumping around, going crazy and talking in class. I felt a presence sit next to me.

"Hey, you," Troy said.

I turned to smile at him under my cap.

"Hey to you too," I replied.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. "About school ending?"

"Well today feels like a mess, but I'm sure I'll feel better tomorrow," I replied lightly.

"Hey peoples!" I heard Chad plop down in his chair and the rest of the gang followed, excluding Jacob.

"Chad…" Troy groaned.

"So, what are your plans for the holidays?" Sharpay asked. "I'm _so_ going to the mall everyday!" Everyone looked at her in disgust. "What? It's the best time to do it!"

"She's got a point," Chad remarked.

Taylor looked at her boyfriend doubtfully again.

"What? She really does. Stop. I _can_ see points sometimes," Chad replied. "But to answer your question, my parents are forcing me to get a job during the holidays that pays well. I think Troy is joining me too."

Troy huffed.

"Unfortunately," he said. "I'd rather do anything else that is _not_ being a waiter. Anything else that would help me pay for my car fees."

I sat up straight and whispered in Troy's ear, "I have job for you. I'm recording some stuff during the holidays and one of them is a male and female duet. We're still looking for a male and I think you'd suit the role for it."

Troy bent down and whispered into my ear, "I'm not good at singing! I've never had a singing lesson before!"

"Well, that prove that you have natural talent," I smiled. "Plus, it pays really well."

"Please tell me you're not joking," he pleaded.

"I'm not," I said seriously.

"Does this mean I don't have to be a waiter?" he asked.

I smiled at him and nodded, looking back at the table.

"Couple's moment," they chorused.

This time, however, we didn't contradict that. Troy was smiling from ear to ear and focused his gaze on a sulking Chad.

"Chad, you're on your own this summer," he said.

Immediately, Chad's head shot up and he glared at Troy.

"What? Did Gabster give you a job or something?" he questioned.

"Oh yes. And it's a really good, well paying, but very demanding one too," Troy said.

"What is it?" Taylor asked. "I could do with a really good, well paying, but very demanding job."

"You'll see," I covered.

HSM

"It'll be fun to sing together. I wonder what my parents would think though," Troy said, as he drove to his house.

"We'll see."

We walked into the house and Lucille hugged me and Troy tightly… together.

"Troy, it's nice to see you so smiley today. It's the last day of school, but you seem so much more excited than Gabriella!" she observed.

Wow. She was good at reading people.

"Gabriella gave me a summer job, but I don't know what you'll think about it," Troy started and Lucille looked at him as if saying 'go on.' "See, she's recording some songs during the holidays and one of the songs is a duet. She asked me to sing with her," he said shyly and blushed.

Wow! Troy Bolton was blushing?

"Oh, dear! You must be joking! Troy's never had a singing lesson in his life!" Lucille gasped.

"He sings very well," I praised him and he blushed again. "You should've heard him at prom… and during music class. There's potential. The job pays very well. It'll help pay for his car expenses. I understand if this is big, but I'm just letting you know that he can do it if he wants. He just wants your permission."

Lucille looked at the clock over head.

"Stay with us for dinner and we'll discuss it with Jack."

As if on cue, Jack opened the door and came in.

"Did someone say Jack?" he asked. "Because he's here."

"We have to discuss some things during dinner, Jack," Lucille said.

I munched on my celery, making loud crunching noises while Troy's family looked at me weirdly.

"What? I like celery," I said.

Lucille let out a small laugh and Jack managed a little chuckle, as if he was only _trying_ to be polite but secretly disapproved of me. Troy just smiled at me but I saw something else. His eyes shone. Literally. There was some sort of… emotion in them that I didn't recognise.

"So what did you want to discuss with me?" Jack asked.

I heard Troy inhale and hold his breath. So did I. Lucille looked at me, but then answered her husband.

"It's about Troy's summer job," she said.

"What?! Did they fire him already? I swear I _will_ sue…"

"No, Jack," Lucille cut him off. "He has been offered a better job with a much higher pay."

Jack stared at Troy.

"Since when did _you_ apply for jobs?" he asked.

"Actually, Jack," I spoke up. "I'm offering him a job."

He turned to me, his eyes wide.

"You? You're offering a job?"

"Yes. We just need your approval," I replied.

"Will this job distract him from basketball?" Jack asked.

"Dad…" Troy groaned.

Now I see it. Everything in Jack's life was basketball, except maybe his family.

"I'm sure it won't, plus, it's only for one or two days. Depends how long it takes," I shrugged.

Now Jack's eyes were almost falling out.

"How can a one-day job pay so much?" he inquired.

"Because the people love it," I replied. "You see, I am recording some songs this holiday and one of them is a duet. The duet is for a male and female and we haven't found a male yet, unless Troy can do it."

"What?" he let out a bitter laugh. "Troy doesn't sing!"

"Weren't you at prom?" I asked.

"Yes, but I was in the toilet when you did that prom king and queen dancing and singing thing," he said loosely.

"So you ran away because you thought you wouldn't be able to bear your son's singing voice. Don't you have any faith?" I demanded harshly, already seeing through Jack's lame excuse.

"No," he defended. "I was really needing to. I had so much to drink and it seemed like my bladder was about to burst," he added, turning slightly red in fear. "But right now, I'm saying no to the job. He'll get paid fine working as a waiter."

I slammed my hands on the table, making everyone jump.

"Jack!" I shouted. "You have no faith! I am _certain_ that he can do this job and the crowd will go wild! You're not a singer, therefore you don't know what's good singing and what's bad singing! If you _think_ that Troy's a bad singer, we can sing for you right now!"

Jack stood up and towered over me.

"Don't speak to me like that, young lady!" he hissed. "Go ahead and make me watch Troy make a fool of himself!"

"Jack!" Lucille exclaimed. "Don't speak about your son like that!"

"I can talk however I want!" Jack said.

"If only he wasn't so focused on basketball," I heard Troy mutter. I looked at him sadly and stood up.

I walked around his table and took his hand, leading him into the room that had a piano. His parents followed. Jack was still fuming.

"We're gonna sing the first song that we sung together," I said, sitting down at the piano.

I played the opening and then we sung. This was a calmer version of the song and more… romantic. At the end, Troy and I both turned to his parents. Lucille clapped and smiled while Jack just looked defeated.

"I've never heard you sing before, Troy, but that was great," Lucille praised. "So what do you say, Jack?"

Jack smiled reluctantly at us.

"Bring home the bacon, son."

HSM

"You'd think he'd have more faith in me," Troy sighed.

I plopped next to him on his bed and hugged him.

"Look on the bright side. He let you do it and now we can sing together. How amazing is that?" I asked.

"Pretty cool. I wonder what will happened to me after that," he said.

"I'm sure the people will love you. You'll become famous, more people will notice you and you'll be able to get your basketball scholarship," I replied.

"How can I ever repay you?"

"In a way, I'm repaying you. You've been my friend for the past half-year and when no one else did. You gave me happiness," I said.

He smiled sweetly at me and smiled back at him. Before we knew it, we were leaning in closer and closer. I felt his warm breath on my face until…

My phone rang.

"Damn it!" I yelled.

I pulled out my phone from my pocket and put it on speaker. I was so annoyed that I didn't even care if Troy heard my private calls.

"Hello, Miss. Montez. We have found a suitable person to sing the duet with you. His name is…"

"Don't even finish that!" I snapped. "I've already found a perfect person. That's far better than suitable."

"Well, is this person someone we know?"

"No," I replied shortly.

"How much experience does he have?"

"Absolutely none," I said. "But he's a natural at it."

"You can spot real talent, can't you?" the person asked.

"You bet," I replied, almost mumbly and rushing to get the call over.

"Can I talk to him?"

"Yes."

I motioned for Troy to speak.

"Hello?" he said.

"Are you the boy who she's chosen to sing with her?" the man on the other line said.

"Yes, sir," Troy replied.

"Have you ever sung with Miss. Montez before? Do you have good chemistry?"

"We're getting an A+ in Chemistry," I stated, rolling my eyes.

"I need to ask you some questions, boy," said my manager. "What is your name?"

"Troy Bolton."

"Age?"

"17."

"Relationship with Ms. Montez?"

"Friend… close friend."

He looked at me and I nodded.

"Are you good at singing?"

"I don't know, ask the singer," Troy shrugged, even though the man couldn't see him.

"He's amazing. He can even sing _and_ dance at the same time. Do you know how many boys can multitask? Absolutely none! Except Troy. We sang and danced at prom together and the whole crowd went wild. Literally. They all congratulated Troy and not me, so he must've been better than me," I said.

Troy glared at me.

"If you say so, Miss. Montez," my manager said. "Please come to the studio with Mr. Bolton on Tuesday."  
I shut off my phone and glared at it. It seemed like every time something intimate between me and Troy was about to happen, we would be interrupted. I didn't go back to it though, because now it was just awkward.  
"I do about 5 music videos per album," I commented. "You wanna do one with me?"  
Troy stared at me, surprised.  
"You mean a music video for the song we're singing together?"  
I nodded.  
"You get to do dancing, lip sync and a bunch of other stuff. It's really fun. You'll enjoy it."  
"What would East High say?" Troy asked.  
"Your popularity would be increased and people would be asking for my number or something like that," I replied.  
"Oh yeah, that would probably happen," he agreed.  
HSM  
Tuesday came and I heard the doorbell, meaning that Troy had arrived. I grabbed my bag and opened the door.  
"Hey. Where's Zac?" Troy asked.  
"At work. They wanted some sort of sunrise scene, so e had to get up really early," I explained.  
Troy took my bag from me and carried it to the car. He opened the door for me because he's a gentleman. Then he got into the driver's seat.  
"Okay," he said, gripping the wheel. "Please give me the directions because I don't know where the hell I'm going or what the hell I'm doing!"  
I laughed.  
"Okay. Go straight, turn left here. Continue and take the third exit at the roundabout. Turn onto the highway and leave it here. Turn right and turn left into the car park."  
I was actually pretty damn impressed with myself. I usually got lost everywhere I went.  
"What an achievement, Montez," Troy clapped sarcastically. "You made it somewhere without getting lost. Last week you got couldn't find your bedroom and I had to tell you where to go!"  
I blushed.  
"I know! I'll admit that I'm completely clueless when it comes to directions an stuff like this!" I said, helplessly, rolling my eyes. "Alright. Are you ready for this?"  
He nodded, a little slowly, I thought. He got out of the car and as he was walking around it, I let myself out. He glared at me.  
"I was going to open the door for you, like a gentleman should," he said.  
"Well, you're not a gentleman so you don't have to do that," I replied teasingly.  
"And you're very ladylike too - wearing caps and hoodies everyday. I think you're very much like a lady," he shot back.  
"They're comfortable!" I protested. "Do blind you in those clothes?"  
His eyes opened wide and he shook his head vigorously.  
"No! Of course not! I mean, Sharpay's clothes blind me with all those sparkles and glitter, but you don't! You look pretty, very pretty. All the time."  
"Thanks," I blushed. "You look handsome today."  
I finally noticed his attire. He was wearing some jeans and a shirt, nothing special, but somehow, he seemed to make them look special when he wore them.  
He smiled that me and opened the building's door for me. I lead the way to my recording room and knocked.  
"Come in!" called my manager.  
I opened the door and Troy followed me in.  
"Troy, this is my manager, James Whaud. You spoke to him on the phone on Friday," I introduced. "Mr. Whaud, this is Troy Bolton, the male I have brought to sing with me."  
Whaud looked at Troy up and down and Troy shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. Finally, Whaud looked up at Troy and smiled.  
"Perfect for a music video," he complemented.  
"That's what I said too!" I exclaimed.  
"Glad you agree," Whaud nodded. "Let's get started. Kyle and David will be behind the window, doing all the technical work. All you need to do is learn the song and sing."  
Troy and I nodded. We walked further into the room and the two men waved to us from behind the window.  
"What's the song called?" Troy asked me.  
"Forbidden Love," I replied. "Here are the lyrics."  
I handed him a sheet of paper and he read it through.  
"You wrote it?" he asked.  
I nodded.  
"Wow. It's really nice. Why?"  
I looked up curiously.  
"What?"  
"Why'd you write on this topic?" he said more clearly.  
"Because..." I trailed off. No. I couldn't tell him that. "I was something that I thought about recently. Tell you what, though, there's a song in this album that is dedicated to you," I added, hopefully.  
"Really? I can't wait to hear it," he grinned.  
"It's already recorded. I'm making a video for it as well."  
"In that case, I can't wait to hear and see it."  
We got back to work and I sang Troy's part to him. He had most of the harmony and I was doing most of the melody. We each had our own verses. All in all, I think we did a great job at writing the song. Troy learnt the song fast too. The recording process would be a piece of cake.  
Suddenly, Troy's phone rang and he answered. He also out it on speaker.  
"Troy?" Chad's voice asked.  
"Yeah? What's up, man?" Troy questioned.  
"Where are you, dude. I'm stuck at this horrible restaurant and you're somewhere else frolicking with Montez or something!" Chad complained.  
"Hey! I can hear you!" I said.  
"We're at work," Troy said, smiling down at me.  
There was silence.  
"Chad?"  
"Yeah? I was just wondering... how can you work with her if she's the one giving out the job. The employee doesn't work with the employer," Chad said.  
"I'm not the employer. I didn't even employ him. My manager did. I only offered the job to Troy," I told Chad.  
"Okay," he said slowly. "Oh crap! My customer's suing me! Gotta go!"  
He hung up and Troy and I both laughed. It was very much like Chad to fail at his work.  
"Alright, kids. You've had your fun," Whaud said. "Let's hear you, Troy."  
We stood behind the microphone and put the headphones on our heads.  
"Sing with emotion," I whispered. "As if you really want the me to be with you."  
He nodded at me but turned to his lyrics sheet when the music came through the headphones.  
 **Author's Note: Gabriella=** _Italics,_ **Troy=** Underlined, **Both= Bold**

Why do you always run away from me?  
You don't even stop to consider  
The never ending possibilities  
If only we could end up together  
Say you were my true love, my only one  
Who could take me everywhere you go  
But it's only harder, if you are done  
You could hold me closer to you, so

If you want me you can have me  
You'll be my only lover  
I tell you we were meant to be  
I'll keep you under cover  
We can't ignore it anymore  
It is too much to bear  
Your denial kills my heart so sore  
But I won't stop to care  
In forbidden love

 _I just can't stop running away from you  
You dare to say that I'm worth your love  
I can fall in love and hurt you too  
You'll end up heartbroken, I don't have luck  
Say you were my true love, my only one  
I would hurt you everywhere you go  
But it's only easy, if I am done  
I don't want to be hurting you, so_

 _You can't want me you can't have me  
I can't be your lover  
I tell you we weren't meant to be  
You won't be under cover  
We can't ignore it anymore  
It is too much to bear  
Love is breaking my heart so sore  
But I won't stop to care  
In forbidden love_

Why can't you see the light  
 _I will only hurt you harder_  
Why can't I hold you tight  
 _Heartbreak will only come faster_  
Why can't I be with you  
 _You can't waste your time on me_  
Why can you see it too  
 _Please don't fall in love, but leave_

 **You can (can't) want me you can (can't) have me  
I (can) can't be your lover  
I tell you we were (weren't) meant to be  
You will (won't) be under cover  
We can't ignore it anymore  
It is too much to bear  
Love is breaking my heart so sore  
But I won't stop to care  
In forbidden love  
** _In forbidden love  
_ In forbidden love  
 **In forbidden love**

The music ended an I turned to Troy. He did an amazing job and the men and my manager looked  
more than pleased. That was a good sign.  
"Now we're gonna add more harmony and vocals to make the son more intense and interesting," I said.  
Then I taught Troy what to sin at what time and he did amazingly. A stranger would've thought that Troy was a usual recorder.  
At the end, we high-fived each other and cheered.  
"That was so much fun! I wanna do it again!" Troy said like a little kid.  
I laughed, "Someday, someday. You can write your own songs next time and we can do more duets."  
Whaud came up to us and smiled.  
"You have to bring this kid in next time. He's better than the other guy I found and he was a professional! Miss. Montez, did you want to do a video for this song?" he asked.  
I nodded.  
"I can arrange that," he said. "Nice day of work. We'll send you your pay check, Mr. Bolton, after you fill in your details in this sheet."  
Troy kneeled down in front of a chair and began to scribble down on the paper. I smiled and noticed how cute he look and his eagerness to sing and work like this.  
"Whaud usually says that the best few songs go on tour. I expect this time it won't be much different," I said, interrupting the silence.  
"Is that so?" Troy asked, looking up and behind him at me.  
"Yes. Very soon, you'll be dancing and singing on a stage in front of hundreds of people instead of showing off your amazing basketball skills on court," I said.  
"Wait till my dad sees me," he mumbled.  
"I'm sure he'll be proud of you."  
HSM  
After the Kyle and David produced the 'Forbidden Love,' they gave me and Troy a copy each. I was overly obsessed with the song and I had it on loop for the whole night.  
"You really love that song," Zac commented at dinner.  
"Don't you?" I asked.  
"It's great. I even know the hidden secret behind the lyrics."  
I raised an eyebrow at him.  
"Really?"  
He nodded.  
"You love Troy and he loves you but you're afraid that you're gonna hurt him."  
I opened my mouth to object, but closed it when I realised that he basically summed it up.  
"Gabriella," he said seriously. "It wasn't your fault. I don't know why the hell you refuse to believe me when I say it, but you've got to. You have no evidence that you caused hat has happened."  
I slumped in my chair, sulkily.  
"Surely it is a sign when everything bad happens on my birthday," I said sadly.  
Zac held up his finger.  
"Surely other people have the same birthday as you so you could blame them too, but you blame yourself. That's why it doesn't make sense," he said.  
"I love Troy so much," I said, looking up at Zac.  
"And he loves you too," Zac said softly, taking my hand. "If you love him, tell him and he won't reject you. I say that you go for it."  
I let a loose tear trail down my face.  
"As soon as I love someone, something bad happens I them. Don't you realise that the only people that have been hurt are the only ones I love?" I asked. "My brother and mom died and my dad became abusive. You got into a car crag and-and I don't want T-Troy to get hurt," I whispered shakily. "I can't deal with heartbreak again."  
I looked down, but Zac lifted my chin up with two fingers.  
"Your heart will only break more if you're not together," he said, inspirationally.  
I went to bed that night exhausted, but my brain was working hard. If I loved Troy already, he could get hurt. Telling him wouldn't make a difference, or would it?  
The next day, I had been invited to Sharpay's house for another meet up. These get-togethers had become more frequent and they were all so fun. We continued to play our fun, little, childish games and got to know each other much more.  
I drove to the Evan's mansion once again and invited myself in. What was the point of knocking if this was a casual and regular visit? I walked into the living room and everyone was already there.  
"No knock?" Sharpay asked.  
"Nope. What's the point. You don't need exercise."  
In a way, I was complimenting her body.  
"Thanks," she smiled at me. "Truth or Dare is always fun."  
I could sense that she just wanted to know what Troy's new job was. Well, it wasn't really a job. Just a day of fun work.  
"I want to go first!" Chad said excitedly.  
Gosh, these teenager were slowly turning into children.  
"Troy, what did you do yesterday?" Chad asked slyly.  
Oh, wow! Straight to the point! Troy groaned.  
"I told you already. I drove Gabriella somewhere and frolicked with her."  
I laughed quietly at that.  
"Like a date?" Chad pushed.  
"Well I usually drive Gabriella to school and frolic with her there an that isn't classified as 'going on a date,' so I guess it wasn't. Hey! You're only allowed to ask one question!" Troy exclaimed.  
Chad just shrugged.  
"Okay," Troy said. "Sharpay, how much money did you spend yesterday?"  
Sharpay's smile widened.  
"I can tell you the whole story or..."  
"NO!" everyone shouted.  
"$7394.57. Gabriella, does Troy's job pay more than that amount in one day?" Sharpay asked.  
I looked around the room at the hopeful gazes. Troy didn't know his pay check either.  
"Yep. It sure does," I answered.  
Now people were just staring. Their eyes wide open and their jaws hanging off their faces.  
We continued the rest of the game until it was time to go home. Troy and I had decided to go to the beach since it was a nice, warm day. The gang had said that it was romantic, but we opposed their opinion.  
"Just gonna change," I told Troy over the phone as I parked in my driveway.  
"Alright, I'll wait outside," he said before hanging up.  
I rushed into the house and changed into an orange-link sundress and placed a sun hat on my head. I put on my orange thongs and was out the door in less than 5 minutes. Troy was waiting outside his car, looking very sexy as usual.  
"Look who's looking pretty today and every day," he complemented, opening the door for me.  
I blushed and got in. He started driving.  
"You look very photogenic. You should take photos of yourself today and be proud of yourself for hitting 30 million followers," he commented.  
I raise my eyebrows.  
"Really? I didn't know that!" I said, getting out my phone. I glanced darkly at him. "Have you been stalking me again?"  
He scoffed.  
"Stalking you? Never," he said incredulously. "But I was looking up facts about you until about midnight yesterday."  
I turned to glared at him jokingly. All the more reason to love him; he make me laugh.  
"We're here!" he said cheerily, jumping out of his truck. This time I let him open the door for me and he nodded in approval.  
I looked up and saw that the sun would set in about an hour which means we had plenty of time to 'frolic.' God, I'm gonna turn into Chad someday, but save the hair.  
Troy held his hand out to me and I took it before jumping out.  
He didn't let go.  
We walked along the sand, trying to find the perfect place to sit in. There was no shade since the sun was shining in the wrong direction, but it still looked lovely.  
I have to note down about me and Troy now. His hand fit perfectly with my and his body fit perfectly with mine when we hugged. It was like we were a puzzle that only had 2 pieces. Another reason to love him; he completed me.  
"What are you thinking about?" he asked suddenly, snapping me out of my thoughts.  
"People," I said. Well Troy was a person, if he wasn't... I would cry because he wasn't real. I continued, "Just the special people in my life that I love."  
This beach was quite deserted. Actually, there absolutely no one here. We had the whole beach to ourselves. It was like a miracle.  
I saw Troy grin evilly from the corner of my eye and he dragged me towards the water, shaking his shoes off in the process. He let go of my hand and I shrieked as water splashed on my face.  
"Oh, you are so in for it!" I laughed and took off my thongs.  
I cupped my hands and picked up some water. Then I splashed it on Troy's head. He froze for a moment before returning the favour, but I had to get even, so I splashed him again.  
"You're not completely wet," Troy whispered in my ear in a very low, but sexy voice. I shivered.  
I felt and arm under my back and one under my knee. I was lifted up, bridal style, above the water. I kicked around, but Troy didn't drop me.  
"Don't drop me!" I pleaded. "Please don't drop me!"  
He smiled sweetly at me and lowered me and I thought he was going to let me down, but no! He lowered me down so I was lying in the water!  
"Asshole!" I shouted.  
He just laughed as I got up by myself and cleaned my back and butt.  
"You can say that again," he chuckled.  
Let's add another reason to the list; he is laid back and doesn't take everything too seriously. He knows when to be serious and sticks to his seriousness.  
Suddenly, the sky turned a mix of orange and purple an the sun touched the horizon. I was standing opposite Troy in the water. It suddenly became quiet and it seemed like the cicadas stopped chirping and the wind stopped blowing. The sound of water lessened, but it feels great, flowing at my ankles.  
"It's a good thing that I didn't wear makeup otherwise it would've been smudged," I said, breaking the silence.  
"Do you eat makeup?" Troy asked softly. I looked at him quizzically. "Really? You don't? I was just wondering how someone could be so beautiful on the inside of they didn't eat makeup. The same goes for the makeup on the outside."  
I blushed and looked down at my bare feet. But then, Troy lifted up my chin and pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear. I stared into his amazing blue eyes and just thought of all the good times we had together. All the times he stood up for me and comforted me. All the times he stayed with me and dealt with me. All the times I cried and he was my shoulder to cry on. Reason: He had the biggest, kindest, most loving and caring heart ever.  
His beautiful eyes reminded me of where we were now; the beach and the colour of the water was a perfect mirror of his eyes. Next reason; his looks are on fleek all the time. Even if he was in his pyjamas, sweating and vomiting into a toilet bowl, he would still look handsome.  
It seemed like now was the right moment for intimacy and love; right here on the beach at the time of sunset when the sky was a beautiful colour and I was alone with the man I fell in love with.  
Troy's other hand gripped my hand and intertwined our fingers together. He cupped my chin and brought it up slowly. I stared into his eyes and he stared into mine until they both fluttered closed. I stood on my tip toes and lifted my other arm up to his chest. I felt his lips brush over mine and fireworks exploded when they met.  
He let go of my hand and chin and placed his hands on my waist. My other hand crept up to his chest as well as we continue to kiss. It was full of passion and love, but it finished as soon as it started.  
Another reason: He was an expert kisser.  
As we pulled away, my eyes opened and Troy was staring at me. I did so too, not really knowing what to do in the heat of the moment. Soon, he cracked a smile at me and I couldn't help but smile back. Troy lifted his hand to caress my cheek before he began to speak.  
"I have known you for half a year now and we have learnt so much about each other," he began, looking straight into my eyes again. "I have never met a girl, or even a person who is as secretive, broken, emotionless or strict as you are. But yet, you are so beautiful inside and out, kind, generous, bold, fair, comforting, humorous and talented. Whenever I look at you, I can't help but think about how pretty you are. You never hated anyone, even if they had wronged you. You were so generous to offer me a job and so bold to tell me and our friends about who you are. You are also so brave to stand up to other and for other and I admire you for that. You always played it fair and never cheated and you always knew the right words to say when I was down. You always knew how to make me laugh, if it was sarcastic comments, joke or even just smart comebacks. And to top it off, you are so very talented. You can sing, dance, act, run, play basketball, do stunts and flips and you are top of the class. You were so strict that you forced me to apologise to someone who had insulted you and you don't show emotion very much which is good because when you do, I know you're not acting. When I first met you, you were so broken, fragile and secretive, but I love that you were able to break out of your shell and let yourself be freed."  
Those words just melted my heart and I was crying because of how touching they were. No one had ever told me half of those things before and they meant so much to me. It was like my whole life was complete then and there. But Troy wasn't finished.  
"I think that by now you know that I love you. I love you so much and it would take me an eternity to stop. I don't care if you don't feel the same way because I just want to spill my feelings so you know how I feel."  
He wipe a tear off my cheek and managed to smile at me. I smiled back before talking.  
"I had a talk with Zac last night during dinner," I gulped. "I told him that I loved you so much." Troy's smile widened but almost fell at the next part. "But I'm so scared. Zac told me that I should go for it and be with you, but I'm afraid that you'll get hurt. You see, everyone I love gets hurt. You know, my family, old fake friends, Zac and I couldn't let you get hurt too. I can't let anymore people get hurt, not only for them, but for me too. Troy, I couldn't stand a heartbreak again and I know it sounds selfish of me, but I would jump off that cliff if you died because of me. But right now I want to tell you all the things I love about you. First of all, you are so kind and generous. You gave up your own time to get to know me unlike everybody else. You did follow the crowd and neglect me like your friends. I love that you didn't judge me for hiding or having the past I have. Next, you're always looking really hot and sexy," he grinned. "You have the most tanned, strong and gorgeous body any girl would dream of. I love the hugs you give me and not to mention that kiss. Your face is beautiful too. I love your eyes, they remind me of the ocean and everything else I like that is blue. Your smile make me want to melt like my ice cream does when I eat it slow because I get brain freeze. I also love your humour. You can take a joke all the time, but you know when it's time to be serious. You also know how to make me laugh or smile, even when I'm upset. You also help me whenever you can and with a great attitude too. You never complain. You are also talented too. The only guy I know of that can multitask is you. You can sing, play sports, dance and you are very smart too. When Jacob came to my house to apologise and ask for advice, he also gave me advice, saying that we were alike. He said that we are both emotionless and it creeps him out," I laughed softly. "Apparently, we can both keep a straight face after a funny joke and we don't cry too much. We can control our anger well. He said that two peas in a pod were perfect for each other, but as much as we're similar, you have all the qualities that I don't. I think it's true..." I trailed off.  
"That we were meant to be," Troy breathed, finishing my sentence.  
I leant up again and we kissed for the second time. It was already dark, but it felt so right to be kissing in the moonlight. He tasted nice too, like I could live off his taste forever and ever. It was so sad when it was over because I never wanted it to end. After we broke apart, Troy took my hand and wordlessly stepped out of the water. We both put on our shoes and walked to the car. He opened the car door for me and I would forever tease his gentleman qualities.  
I held onto his hand during the car ride. It was very silent, but not awkward at all. After spilling our guts, it was a good time to think about what we had said to each other. We walked hand in hand to my door and then faced each other. We kissed and hugged, but separated without a word. I wished him goodnight in my head and I think he knew it. He said it to me too.  
Reason: We know what the other is thinking.  
I knocked on the door, waiting for Zac to open it. He did and as soon as he saw me, he knew what happened. We sat down on opposite arm chairs, me as smiley as ever. I told him everything that had happened. When I had finished, I was still smiling and blushing profusely.  
"That sound like it was a scene right out of a movie," Zac said.  
"I know!" I exclaimed. "He literally took me to a beach, splashed me with water, kissed me, told me all his feelings, let me tell him all my feelings, kissed me again, took me home and kissed me one more time. It was so romantic!" I squealed.  
Zac rolled his eyes.  
"And it was so very romantic because he literally did what you just said. Look, I'm so happy for you but you need to think about the media. You and him are going to get much more attention because you'll be the world's 'favourite couple' and this is a big jump for Troy. He'll need to get used to it. Secondly, think about school. I don't want to be getting calls because you're making out or having sex in a janitor's cupboard instead of going to class."  
I looked at him, shocked.  
"First of all, I agree with you totally, but I am not making out with anyone or having that type of sex before I get married. Secondly, I only go to school to learn and attempt to go a social life. So far, I'm improving very much," I replied bluntly.  
He held up his hands in defence, "Just warnin' ya."  
I crossed my arms and put my feet up on the table which was not frowned upon in this house.  
"Anyway, what are you so smiley about today? I've shared my joy so now it's your turn," I said.  
Zac thought for a moment before speaking.  
"I met this girl a long time ago and you know her. Long story short, I got a girlfriend."  
I smiled really big and crushed Zac in a hug.  
"Really?! That's amazing! More than amazing! Who is it?"  
"Vanessa Hudgens," he replied, grinning.  
"Oh my god! I love her so much! We're gonna be one happy family!" I cheered.  
Seemed like this holiday would be a good one.

HSM 

It was Thursday and it was the day I was shooting the music video for 'Forbidden Love' with Troy. We hadn't told the gang about our love for each other yet. It would be shared along with the music video.  
We had had our rehearsals for the dancing and also hired some men to do a battle scene in which I couldn't save the one that was getting killed. The song was basically the story of my life.  
"Hey, beautiful," Troy greeted me, kissing me on the lips as I blushed.  
"Hi, handsome," I replied. "Are you ready for today?"  
He nodded, opening the care door for me.  
"Always the gentleman," I sighed teasingly.  
He shook his head and close the door, smiling to himself. We drove to beach that we had been in a couple week before. It was the best place to shoot since it was where Troy and I had our first and second kiss. It was where our relationship really began.  
Whaud greeted us and we also saw our choreographers, Lucy and Pete standing behind, ready to correct us if we did anything wrong.  
"Good morning Miss. Montez and Mr. Bolton," the chanted together, "it's a pleasure to see you two again."  
"You too," Troy said and I just waved and smiled.  
"Do you guys remember all the choreography?" Pete asked.  
"I hope so," I replied. "But you guys are here anyway so you correct us if we're wrong."  
Whaud called us to start the filming and it was great. Troy did everything perfectly and I was almost a complete mess. There were times where I had to turn around or jump and I ended up failing miserably. However, it was all good fun in the end.  
"When will it be ready?" I asked.  
"Should be ready in a week's time," said my editor. "Why?"  
I shrugged, "Am I allowed to show it to my friends before it's online?"  
"Yeah, why not?"  
Our video was quite simple and most of it was set at the beach, while the rest was in the car park for the beach. Therefore, we didn't have to travel much and we finished filming before dark. Some of the filming was done during sunset and I would never forget what happened during the sunset a few weeks ago.  
Troy and I jumped into his truck and left the beach.  
"You know who's still working?" Troy asked me, smiling a little too evilly. A grin crept up onto my face as I realised.  
"Chad," we said together.  
It was bizarre that Chad found a job at a place called 'Secret Desire' because it those two words could describe Chad's personality fully. He always had a secret desire to eat at anytime. He would want to eat during class, basketball practice, after a 10 course dinner or even when he was failing at skydiving upside down.  
Troy, as the usual gentleman, opened my door and we opened the door to the diner. A soft doorbell rung, symbolising that customers had arrived or were leaving. From behind the curtain that separated the restaurant from the kitchen, a dark man with a bushy Afro stepped out, but stopped when he saw who his customers were.  
Chad.  
"Good evening, and welcome to 'Secret Desire'," he began, almost lost for words. It was hella funny.  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm only being polite because my boss forced me to, otherwise I won't get paid. We know, Chad. Just take us to our table already," Troy demanded.  
Chad helplessly led us to a nice table next to a window with a heavenly view. This added to a great experience, except we would give less of a tip because our waiter was Chad. He handed us our menus and walked away, embarrassed.  
"He's so embarrassed!" I exclaimed.  
"That's Chad for ya," Troy said. "What are you getting."  
"Food..." I mumbled. "Maybe that thing. What is it called? Chicken Goodness? Who names their dish 'Chicken Goodness'? Wait, I can't eat chicken. I'll eat 'Beef Goodness'. What about you?"  
He shrugged, "Same as you, I suppose. God, I am so happy I'm not working here. Thanks again for the job," he smiled.  
"Not a problem," I replied and smiled. "You deserved it... a lot."  
A moment later, Chad came scurrying back with a notepad and pen.  
"Are you guys ready to order?" he asked.  
"Yes," I said. "We'll both have a 'Beef Goodness' and water, please."  
Chad hurriedly scribbled our order down and mumbled a 'thanks.' Then he walked away, or rather, ran away from us like a scared mouse.  
About 5 minutes later, Chad came back with our food, but instead of hurrying away, he sat beside Troy, squishing him into the window.  
"I'm finished for the day. Now I don't have to talk like a cringey robot anymore," he panted. "Why are you here anyway?"  
Troy flashed a smile in our direction.  
"We thought we should add some more fun to our day by coming to see you in action," he said to Chad.  
Chad feigned hurt and held his hand to his heart.  
"You had fun already without me?"  
Troy and I nodded rather smugly.  
"Yup," I said. "So much fun."  
Chad groaned.  
"I can't believe that you guys found fun summer jobs. It's not fair!" he pouted.  
"Chad! Come on! You're not a 5 year old!" Troy scolded. "Man up and deal with it!"  
"Whatever," Chad rolled his eyes. "I'm out. Goodnight and have fun!" he spat before strutting out of the diner.  
I turned to look at Troy with wide eyes.  
"Someone's in a bad mood today," I commented, going back to eating my food.  
"He's just jealous," Troy shrugged.  
We finished our dinner quickly.  
"What are you doing?!" Troy exclaimed as I took out some money from my pocket. I looked at him weirdly.  
"What do you mean? You say that like it's a crime to pay for myself," I said, taking the cheque from the table.  
But Troy snatched it out of my hand and placed his own money inside.  
"It is a crime to pay if you're a female," he told me.  
"Sexist," I muttered.  
"I heard that and besides, I wouldn't be a gentleman if I didn't pay," Troy said.  
I rolled my eyes but smiled.  
"Always the gentleman." 

HSM 

"Hello?" I asked, picking up the phone.  
"Miss. Montez? We have finished editing yours and Mr. Bolton's music video and it is ready to go online. When are you going to post it on YouTube?" my editor said, from the other line.  
"I was thinking of showing it my friends first. Maybe I'll put it up Monday. It's Thursday no, so it will be in 4 days," I replied.  
"How would you like me to share it with you?"  
"On DVD would be great," I answered.  
There was a pause and the faint sound of pencil.  
"Mr. Whaud has also asked which day you want to record 'Savour'?" he asked.  
I stood up from my bed and looked at my calendar. The next day I would be meeting up with the gang at Sharpay's house. Saturday was free.  
"Is Saturday alright?" I inquired.  
"More than. Thankyou, Miss. Montez," my editor thanked me.  
I laughed, "No, it's thankyou to you. You've done all the editing for me and some planning. You should get a shout out or something."  
I could sense my editor smiling from work and he hung up. As soon as the call ended, I jumped into my car and drove the studio. I managed to get the DVD from my editor and after thanking him, I left to go home. I wouldn't watch it yet because that would ruin the surprise. I would watch it together with my friends. Yes, everyone. The gang had all become my friends.  
"I heard you got the DVD today," Zac said during dinner.  
"I sure did," I grinned.  
"Do I get to see it?" he asked.  
"You can watch it after dinner or something. Don't spoil it for me though."  
He raised an eyebrow.  
"You haven't watched it yet?"  
I shook my head.  
"I'll wait till tomorrow."  
The next day, I got out of bed and went straight to Instagram. Troy and I had taken a picture for the cover of our song and I posted that. The photo was just us at the beach with our foreheads touching and the sunset could be seen throughout the gap between our bodies.  
The caption was: 'Special surprise with my special friend!' I then tagged Troy in the photo and posted it.  
After I finished changing my clothes, I began to read comments. Here are some of them:  
"OMG! So fking excited!"  
"Who's that kid? Your boyfriend?"  
"Is that your boyfriend? He's so cute!"  
"I stalked you at that diner."  
"I love you and also that boy already!"  
I laughed at them and shut my phone off. Feedback was good. Not only was it encouraging, but it was also motivational and helped me become better at my work and as a person.  
As soon as I stepped onto Sharpay's doorstep, the door swung open and Sharpay grabbed my are. She yanked me into the living room where everyone but Chad sat.  
"We're gonna hide from Chad!" she hissed. "He's gonna be so happy that he's the first one here, but then when we reveal ourselves, he's gonna be so pissed at himself for being late... as usual."  
"Okay? Where do I go?" I asked.  
"In the closet with Troy!" she ordered, a little bit too slyly for my liking.

"Sharpay!" I hissed.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"Do you want your surprise or not?" I asked.

"You have a surprise?" she said. "Really? You've already given me a surprise."

"It's for the whole group," I explained.

"Well, I'm excited. Now get in there!"

And there I was. In the closet. Squished up with Troy. Body heat was not a favourite during the Summer, but oh well. I had to deal with it.

"My editor finished editing the video," I whispered.

His eyes brightened and I could see them shining in the dark.

"Really? Have you watched it?"

"No," I shook my head. "Only my editor, manager and recorders. Oh wait! I let Zac watch it last night. He said it was romantic so I trust his word," I shrugged.

"I saw your post this earlier today. That is my favourite photo of us together," Troy smiled.

"Me too. When's Chad coming? He's taking forever," I groaned.

"He's probably busy doing his hair," he said.

"Seriously? I don't even take that long on my hair and mine's better than his!" I said a little too loudly.

"Hey! I heard that!" I heard Chad's voice from outside of the cupboard.

I turned to look at Troy. Great job, friends. You managed to lock us in a closet, hoping that we would have a hot and steamy make out session or something. The lock clicked and the doors opened. It was clear that we didn't kiss or anything because our lips were _not_ swollen and our hair was in place. Their plan didn't work.

"Your plans don't work," I said in a fake annoyed voice. "Did you really think we would start kissing in there?"

Sharpay looked around the room with embarrassment.

"It's about time you become a couple already! We're waiting! The whole school is waiting!" she claimed.

I rolled my eyes and took out the DVD from my overly large coat pocket.

"Here's your surprise. This is the story of my life and I haven't seen it yet. Only my manager, editor, recorders and 'unofficial godfather' have. Apparently it's romantic." I winked at them and pushed the DVD into the player.

They all looked at me in confusion except for Troy who just sat down in an armchair. The rest followed me to sit on one couch or another.

 **Author's Note: Now I will explain what happens in the video. Refer to the lyrics above to guess the approximate time at which each event occurs.**

The video began with a sudden shot of a woman's frightened and sweaty face. Her face turned to pain as she got beaten. I was standing off to the side, watching in fear as the woman got abused. This shot was taken in the beach carpark. After the woman 'died,' the man turned to me and was about to hit me, when Troy stepped in and fought off the man. After that, Troy grabbed my hand and ran down to the beach.

Then, we began to play in the water and splash each other like we did before. Soon, the sound of the wind and waves died down and the music started. Troy began to sing to me.

"Why do you always run away from me?"

I looked down at the ground and he takes my hand, making me look up at him. We slowly begin to walk along the beach and soon enough, we're dancing with each other. It wasn't slow dancing, nor was it fast, hip hop dancing. This was when Troy sang:

"If you want me you can have me."

After he sang:

"In forbidden love,"

The music paused and the camera shook and zoomed into my head, making an effect that symbolised what I was thinking. I was having flashbacks about my past. Each flashback, there was a birthday cake with whatever age I was at the time, and then the event that happened. It showed a boy getting shot, a man hitting me, a woman killing herself and a car crash. That was literally my past.

After that, the camera zoomed out of my head and the music came on again. I began to sing.

"I just can't stop running away from you."

As I sang that, I let go of Troy's hand and began to run away from you. When I got to:

"But it's only easy, if I am done,"

I slowed to a walk and the camera showed Troy running behind me. He grabbed my hand and turned me around. I was supposed to be taken by surprise as our foreheads touched and the sun could be seen between our bodies, just like the cover photo. The music paused again and we were about to kiss, but then I pulled back and turned around. I sang:

"You can't want me, you can't have me."

The camera went into my head again and showed thoughts of Troy getting hurt: him getting fought and bruised, him drowning in the ocean and him getting hit by a car.

"In forbidden love."

Then the video changed to Troy attempting to get me to dance again. I did as I sang:

"I will only hurt you harder."

We were singing the bridge now and dancing like there was no tomorrow. The dance was choreographed so every time, I was about leave, but Troy kept pulling me to him.

"But I won't stop to care."

That was when the music died down and it was only vocals. We sang the last 4 lines with our foreheads together again, but at the very end, visual effects made it look like the wind lifted Troy off the ground and pulled him away from me. I was left with nothing.

 **Author's Note: Did you like it? Can you imagine that in a real music video? Comment if it was romantic enough.**

When the video finished, the room fell into a dead silence. No one even breathed. I looked at Troy and he gave me an encouraging smile. I mouthed a 'thank you' to him and he nodded. As I turned away from him, I felt the gang's gaze on me.

"So, let me get this straight…" Sharpay began, breaking the silence. Everyone turned to her. "You said that that was the story of your life. You and your loved ones got hurt and Troy saved you from it. He fell in love with you, but you're scared that he's gonna get hurt because of you."

I nodded slowly and hesitantly.

"Is it true?" Taylor breathed. "He loves you?"

I turned to Troy and he nodded.

"Aww!" cooed the girls.

"Eww," Chad said, disgusted.

"Man up, Chad," Zeke said.

"That was so adorable! You guys were so cute in it!" Sharpay squealed.

Chad pouted, "So _that_ was Troy's work that paid him so much money. How much was it again? $150,000 for 2 days, right?"

Taylor snuggled up to Chad as if comforting him.

"But Chaddy," she said. "Don't be jealous. You just need to work on your singing skills."

Chad scowled. "Basketball will give me fame."

I stood up and took the DVD out of the player.

"So what did you think about the song?" I asked.

Sharpay squealed.

"Is that going on YouTube and iTunes and Spotify? I'm going to put it on loop for the rest of my life!"

"Calm down, Sharpay. You're probably gonna get sick of my voice within the next minute," Troy said.

Then Zeke spoke up.

"Can I just say this: I make fortune cookies and put fortunes inside of them, so right now, I'm gonna give you guys a verbal insight to the future. When this song and video goes online, it's going to be trending and then Troy will become famous. Then, you will do some live concerts and tour around the place. East High will wonder how Troy knows Gabriella Montez and Gabriella will have to reveal herself."

Sharpay gasped and placed her hand over her heart.

"Oh, Zekey! That's terrible. How can you make such an assumption?"

"Don't worry, Sharpay. I'll just go to school as myself after Summer," I shrugged. "Any improvements that could've been made to the video?"

Sharpay's hand shot right up into the air.

"You should've kissed at the end or something. All you guys did was danced together. The closest you got was your foreheads touching. It wasn't satisfying!" she complained.

"Yeah!" Chad joined in. "You guys should've sucked each other's faces of. That way, I wouldn't have to see them anymore!"

"Chad!"

"What, Tay? I'm just stating facts."

Troy and I laughed.

"It's okay, guys. We're not making out or anything anytime soon," I refused.

"WHAT!" Sharpay shrieked. "Troy said he loved you!"

"Sharpay," I laughed. "Troy loving me doesn't make him my sex partner."

"Not having sex till marriage," Troy mumbled, raising his eyebrows.

"WHAT?" Chad sputtered. "Troy, dude, I don't even think you've had your first kiss yet!"

"Yeah," Zeke chimed in. "When was the last time you made physical contact with a girl?"

"This morning," Troy glared. "I hugged my mother."

"Troy!" Taylor exclaimed. "You know that doesn't count! Is it true that you haven't had your first kiss?"

Troy rolled his eyes.

"Don't listen to Chad. Whatever he says is _bullshit_."

Chad smirked.

"So you _have_ had your first kiss," he grinned. "Who was it?"

Troy rolled his eyes again and pointed at me. Everyone's heads turned towards me, but I didn't blush. My face stayed emotionless like Troy's.

"So you did suck each other's face," Chad made a face. "When and why didn't we know?"

"Chad! There's a difference between kissing and sucking faces! We did it at the beach after the most recent get-together. It was so romantic. Oh! It was during sunset and there was absolutely _no one_ around! And you didn't know because we didn't tell you," I explained.

"So when are you giving birth?" Chad said innocently.

Taylor slapped him on the back of his head, where no one should ever touch.

"Chad!" she yelled. "Don't talk like that!"

I looked down and then up at Troy shyly, smiling.

"There's not gonna be a baby. I'm not gonna have any more sex until I get married."

 **Author's Note: So how did you like it? It's long, but romantic in my opinion. Of course, it's only my opinion because I wrote it and I want to be proud of myself, but it's probably not that great. Please don't judge that song that I wrote. I don't like using other people's songs because I hardly know any so I wouldn't be able to find a suitable one that relates to the topic. That's why I write them myself. Poetry is like my favourite thing to do!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Do you prefer longer or shorter chapters? Review!**

 **Bold: Author's Note/ Other**

Normal: Present

 _Italics: Flashback/ Song lyrics/ Texts_

"And a partridge in a pear tree!" I sang as I made my lunch. "On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, twelve drummer drumming, eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping…"

"Gabriella…" Troy groaned. "Christmas is half a _year_ away!"

I glared. "Actually, it's in 151 days, 13 hours, 3 minutes and 47 seconds. That's way less than half a year."

"Someone's in a bad mood today."

I held my hand up.

"On the contrary, I'm feeling very peachy today."

"That's hard to believe," he muttered.

"Am I not allowed to be happy?" I asked.

"No, you're not," he replied.

I glared at him again.

"You don't deserve any lunch, young man," I joked, placing the food in front of him.

"Thank you," he said and I sat down. We ate.

I turned to look at my laptop that was uploading the music video to YouTube. 5 seconds left, it said.

"Boom!" I yelled, pumping my fist in the air. "New single's out, baby!"

Troy stared at me.

"What?" I asked.

"I understand now why the people love you so much," he said. "How many views can you get in 5 minutes?"

"Let's see."

"It should be a fact in your brain that people love me, Troy," I fake gloated.  
"I can't actually write a list of all your talents on one sheet of paper," he said. "But the next one I should add is cooking."  
"Oh, thankyou! Zac taught me," I told him.  
I refreshed my YouTube page and clicked on my video.  
"Wow. 134,836 views in 5 minutes and it's slowly making it's way to number 1 on trending," I said. "You know, not only do you get paid for the job, you also get the money from iTunes and Spotify. We should get half each?"  
"Really? That's cool. That means you're really rich," he replied.  
"Nah, not really. I give the money to the homeless shelters seeing as I was once like them."  
"Good soul," he grinned.  
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.  
"Door's open," I called.  
"That is really unsafe, you know," Troy whispered.  
The door opened to reveal Jacob Platelle, who was grinning madly. He came inside and closed the door, making himself comfortable at the table where Troy and I were seated.  
"Hey, Jacob," I greeted. "What brings you here?" I asked.  
He shrugged.  
"I like your song so I came to congratulate you. Send me VIP tickets for the concert."  
With that, he stood up and went home.  
"We're having a concert?" Troy asked.  
"Most likely."  
"So I have to dance and sing live?"  
I nodded. "If you can play basketball live, you can dance and sing live."  
Troy put his head in his hands.  
"Oh my god! Oh my god! I can't do that! I'm gonna have a voice crack and twist my ankle. Please don't have a meet and greet!"  
"I don't do meet and greets and you'll be fine. Like I said, if you can play basketball live, you can sing and dance live and don't you dare roll your eyes at me!"  
He dared to and I laughed.

HSM

The last song to be release was dedicated to Troy. It was the last in my album. My album was called 'Love Crowned the Winner.' It was all about how love saved me from my misery. The second last song was dedicated to all my friends.  
Today was the first day of my Senior Year and the day I was going to reveal myself. I still wore my cap and glasses to school, but I would take them off later. I walked into the school hand in hand with Troy.  
"Troy!" Stacy Brighton squealed. "I can't believe you're famous now! Is Gabriella Montez your girlfriend?"  
Troy nodded, not wanting to talk.  
"Then why are you holding hands with that... ugly, mean slut? Isn't that considered as cheating?"  
Troy laughed.  
"Stacy, you really are an idiot. I'm not cheating anyway. How do you think Gabriella and I look together in the song?"  
"You guys look absolutely adorable! Gabriella is so pretty in it!" she squeaked.  
I frowned in confusion.  
"I seem to recall that a few seconds ago you called Gabriella ugly. How can you contradict yourself and call her pretty now?" Troy asked.  
Stacy stopped and stared at me. I took of my cap and glasses, revealing myself in front of the whole school. She gasped and covered her mouth. I'm pretty sure the rest of the school did too.  
"Good morning, Brighton. I'm Gabriella Montez and you just called me an ugly, mean slut," I said cheerfully.  
I pulled Troy away to our lockers and we got ready for home room and our first class.  
"We've got Darbus again, right?" I asked.  
"Sadly, but now that I've done singing and dancing, I hope she'll love me," Troy said, hopefully.  
We arrived in class just as the bell rang and I kept my head low as people continued to stare. Darbus began her usual lecture about cellphones and how the theatre was an extremely important aspect of a human's psychological wellbeing. We all fled out of the classroom as soon as the bell went, to the music room.

"Aren't you excited?" Troy asked me on the way to class. "We have a new teacher for music!"

"Really?" I looked at my timetable. "Mr. Whaud… What the hell? He's our music teacher? Oh my god! Does that means he's not going to be my manager anymore?"

I ran straight into the music room and to Whaud. I enveloped him in a hug.

"Please! Please!" I begged. "Don't retire from being my manager!"

He unwrapped my arms from his waist and looked down at me.

"Ms. Montez. Nice to see you here. I'm only trying this job out for a semester and I'll be continuing on being your manager. Take a seat, please," he told me.

I heaved a sigh of relief and slumped down into behind the desk that was next to Troy's.

"He's not leaving is he?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"Fortunately. He's like the nicest, most caring, supportive, motivational and productive manager in the world! What could I do without him?" I asked.

Whaud stood over my desk and smiled at me.

"Nice to hear that you think so highly of me, but I'm really not that great," he said.

"I beg to differ," I said. "You are like the nicest, most caring, support…"

"I know," he interrupted. "Thanks, but I have to begin my class now. Come to chat with me afterwards about your last song of the album."

My eyes widened and I realised that I had forgotten all about my work since school started. Actually, school only started 15 minutes ago, so I had only forgotten about it for 15 minutes. Whaud walked back to the front of the classroom.

"Good morning, class. My name is Mr. Whaud and I will be your music teacher for this semester. Musical knowledge and ability is very beneficial in life and it can leave you with hobbies or even careers. Now, most of you know that an important aspect of music is connecting with the music, so we're going to get down to business straight away."

A few students groaned and I swore I heard a head bang on the table.

"Before you start moaning and groaning, I assure you that this will be a fun semester for you. Your first project will be to create a mini album. You will do this album in partners and must consist of 5 songs. You can use family members or friends for back up vocals if you want to. Each of the songs must come along with a music video. I expect to hear all 5 songs recorded by the end of the term and videos produced by the end of the semester. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Mr. Whaud," most of the class chanted.

Stacy Brighton stood up.

"Excuse me, Mr. Whaud," she said sweetly. "I don't understand how it is fair to allow two actual singers to do this project, I mean, they'll obviously go together. If you compare the rest of our albums to theirs', they're sure to be getting a far higher score than us."

Mr. Whaud rolled his eyes.

"Sit down and shut up."

The class 'Oohed' and Stacy turned bright pink. She huffed and did what she was told.

"You may pick your own partners and begin now."

I turned to Troy and we both grinned at each other. Oh how much fun this was going to be.

"We should've recorded and filmed our song after this project was assigned," I said.

"Yeah," he agreed. "You know what? We should make some sort of story that is told by the order of our songs. We could do something similar to your life story but change it up a little. We could start off as friends and then the bad things happen. You push me away, but I convince you that it wasn't your fault and like all fairy tales, we live happily ever after. How's that?"

I nodded slowly.

"I think we should have 3 duets and 2 solos. We can start off with a duet about new friendships. Then I can sing a song about how my life is miserable and catastrophic. Ooh! I'll ask Whaud if we can do an acoustic version of our song. After that, you can sing a number about how you want me so bad, but I keep pushing you away and finally, we can have a happily ever after song," I proposed.

"Seems good."

I raised my hand and grabbed Whaud's attention. He came over to us.

"Miss. Montez. How can I help?"

"Uh… Mr. Whaud, we were wondering if we could do an acoustic version of our song. It will have the same lyrics, we just have to redo the music and come up with a calmer melody line," I said.

"Of course, of course you can. It's all completely brand new isn't it?" he nodded.

"Thank you," I said.

"Let's get to work," Troy said.

HSM

Troy and I sat on my bed at home, thinking of lyrics for our first song. It was to be titles 'In the Beginning' and it was all about how two people can help each other and become friends.  
"I don't think 'in the beginning' is a nice line to put in a chorus," Troy opined. "Put it in the first line or something."  
"What about:  
 _"In the beginning, it was dark and lonely,  
I was all by myself."_  
I suggested.  
"That's a good start. Ugh. There's so much to do," he whined.  
"Don't complain," I said, slapping his arm. "You know it's for your own good."  
"Yeah, I know. Miss. Nerdy wants to become valedictorian," Troy teased.  
"Shut up, asshole," I glared playfully.  
"I'll take that as a compliment because I think my asshole is beautiful and worthy of recognition," Troy gloated.  
I gasped in shock.  
"You're disgusting!" I slapped him again.  
He leant over to me and whispered in my ear, "You know you want to see it."  
Oh my god. It was that sexy, low voice again.  
"You know you can't resist me," he continued.  
No. No. No. No. No. No! I couldn't give in!  
"Like I said last time, I'm not gonna make out with you so I'm not even close to seeing your ass," I said with confidence. "Another reason why I don't like _The Notebook_ is because they kiss too much. Eww! I can't bear it!"  
"So you're not mushy romantic type?"  
"That's when it's not even romantic anymore. Sweet kisses are romantic, but making out is just... eww!" I said, disgustedly.  
He laughed as I shivered.  
"That's good. I don't like that either. Chad claims that he hates it too, but I walked in on him and Taylor making out...naked...3 times...in one day."  
I shuddered at the thought.  
"Oh my god. That's absolutely disgusting! I'm grossed out now. I'm mentally throwing up," I choked out.  
Troy patted me on the back until I finished my little 'panic attack' session.  
"Troy?" I asked.  
"What's up?"  
"Does it bother you that it seems like I've had so many other relationships before you? I mean, if you hear me say that I've had sex 365 times, you'd assume that I'm a prostitute or a slut-whore girl. I don't want you think that you're just another guy I'm hooking up with."  
Troy looked at me confusedly, as if I was talking nonsense.  
"Gabriella, you were raped. Getting raped is different from being a prostitute or a slut-whore girl, so no, I'm not worried because I know that you've never been in a relationship before."  
I smiled at him softly.  
"Thanks, Troy. That makes me feel a lot better," I whispered quietly.  
"Why are you even worried about that anyway?"  
I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it was just a thought."  
He pulled me into a shoulder hug where I felt safe and secure.  
"Well, don't think about that."  
Just then, there was a knock on the door and I leapt down the stairs, anxious to see who our visitor was. I unlocked the door (after Troy had forced me to lock it) and wasn't surprised to see Jacob standing hen with his hands in his pockets and cool shades.  
"You seem to be coming around a lot lately," I said, inviting him inside.  
"Yeah, well, I was bored and I had the sudden urge to come over," he said.  
I looked behind me and caught Troy's eyes. I have to say that I was very proud that Troy wasn't the type of overly-jealous, angry and violent boyfriend. He wouldn't punch a boy that talked to me, but if they tried to hook up, he'd definitely claim me as his own and I loved him for that quality. That could be another reason to add on my list of why I love Troy Bolton.  
"Any reason why?" I asked.  
"Well I had a vision that Troy was here." I stared at him oddly and Troy's dark eyebrows rose. "So I thought it would be a great idea to give you two relationship advice."  
"Relationship advice? Whoa, Jake." Oh yeah, and Troy and Jacob were so friendly that they were already on 'nickname-terms.'  
"Let's go sit down and I'll spill all my thoughts," Jacob said, ushering us to the couches in front of the living room TV. We sat.  
"Begin," I said, rolling my eyes.  
"Okay... I think you guys are ready. Ready for what, you ask. Well, let me tell you. You guys have known eat other for more than half a year were close friends for most of time. You have been dating since the start of Summer and I think you're ready to take the next step!" he informed us.  
"And what exactly is the next step?" Troy asked hesitantly.  
"Making out, duh," Jacob answered.  
I burst out laughing.  
"Sorry, that's just funny because just before you arrived, Troy and I were discussing how disgusting making out is. Jacob, there is a certain point where you actions are no longer romantic. Making out crosses far over that line," I told him.  
"When was the last time you guys even kissed?" Jacob questioned.  
I looked at my watch.  
"About an hour ago."  
"Okay, that's not too bad, but a relationship is boosted by two things: Love and sexual activities. Love is probably the main booster, but the hot and heavy stuff helps too," Jacob said.  
"But if you're thinking of locking us in a closet and waiting until we start kissing, you're wrong," Troy butted in. "Sharpay already tried that and it didn't work."  
Jacob shook his head.  
"I won't do that, but tell me, what was your most romantic time together?"  
I looked at Troy and he looked at me.  
"The beach," we said at the same time.  
"Best day of my life," I added.  
"Glad you think so," Troy smiled.  
Jacob looked confused.  
"The day you filmed that video?" he asked.  
I shook my head.  
"No. It was the last day of school. We had gone to Sharpay's house and then Troy and I wanted to go to the beach. It was an empty beach and we splashed each other with water until everything became quiet. Then, just as the sun touched the horizon, we kissed and Troy and I told each other our feelings. We kissed again, went home and kissed one last time. Is that enough kissing for you? 3 is my favourite and lucky number," I recounted.  
"Aww, how cute," Jacob cooed. "Like I said last time, Montez. You're a match made in heaven."  
I glanced at Troy awkwardly and then back at Jacob. A smile was tugging at his lips as he stood up.  
"Well, I'm off now. Gotta do homework. Hope you found our talk inspirational enough."  
"Very," Troy remarked sarcastically.  
"See you two tomorrow and I want a full review of your session," he said before walking out.  
Troy shook his head and sighed.  
"That boy is way out of his mind."  
"But I much prefer him this way than what he was before," I said.  
"Agreed."  
Suddenly, there was the sound of rain punching he roof. I looked outside and was surprised to see hail on my front lawn. It was highly unusual to see hail during summer.  
"That's strange. It's hot today," I commented.  
"You'd think that it would melt before it reaches the ground," Troy added.  
"Hey Troy? I was thinking... if the weather stays like this, would you like to spend the night and if it stops, would you still like to spend the night?" I asked.  
He laughed at my antics.  
"Yeah, sure. Let me just call my mom and if the rain stops or dies down, I'll go back to fetch clothes and stuff."  
A couple hours later, Troy and I were sprawled across the couch after watching High School Musical for my 50th time and stuffing our faces with popcorn. Most couples would end up cute and cuddled together after a movie, but not us. If anything, we were sitting as far away from each other as possible, not because we didn't want to sit next to each other, but because it seemed more comfortable.  
"Hey, where the hell is Zac?" Troy asked from the other side of the couch.  
"He's on a really, really long date with Vanessa. He's been gone since we left for school and I think he'll be back after night," I answered. "He won't mind if you stay over if that's what you're thinking. Do you want pizza for dinner?"  
"You're still hungry?"  
"Don't judge me!" I pouted. "I'm gonna call them anyway and order a Vegetarian."  
Half an hour later, the pizza deliverer came and gave us our pizza. We thanked him and he left, receiving a large tip.  
"Ugh. I hate olives," I complained.  
"You ordered the pizza," Troy said.  
"Whatever." I rolled my eyes. "That doesn't stop me from hating them."  
After we finished our pizza, we recycled the box like the environmentally friendly children we should be and I took out my phone.  
"Oh look," I said. "You've got your own Wikipedia page now."  
"What does it say about me?"  
"Your full name, birthdate, occupation, music career, genre, years active. Oh, here. Troy Alexander Bolton is a trending artist who gained fame by producing the song 'Forbidden Love' alongside famous singer/actress, Gabriella Montez. Hmm... Personal life. Bolton and Montez began a relationship in the summer of 2006. Nikon current attends East High, Albuquerque, New Mexico," I read. "It was inevitable that you would gain fame since the song reached what? 50 million views in 48 hours. It has about 692 million as of now."  
"And I thought it would take off, but not this much. I have millions of follow requests on Instagram now. Do you think my dad will get annoyed at the attention?" Troy asked.  
"I don't know," I shrugged. "Depends on his mood."  
I yawned and stretched my arms above my head.  
"I'm tired. I'll think I'll go take a shower," I said.  
"Alright. You do that and I'll get some stuff from home. I'll be right back," Troy said, grabbing his keys from the table.  
When Troy came back, I had finished showering and I was now sloppily doing my Maths homework.  
"Are you sure you should be doing that at this time?" he chuckled.  
"Yup," I yawned again. "I'm gonna ace it," I added with little enthusiasm. Actually, it took a lot of effort from me.  
"You should rest now. I'll just take a shower and come back, okay?"  
"Alright, you do that. I'm just stretching my mouth. You know, it can remove cheek chubbiness," I said, yawning again.  
He laughed and closed door behind him in the bathroom.  
Not even 5 minutes later, he reappeared at hung his clothes in my closet. Oh my god. How was I going to contain myself? He was only wearing his boxers!  
"That was quick," I noted, as he slipped into my bed next to me.  
"I know. I don't take long showers very much. The times I take long are when I have baths," he replied.  
"I've never had bath before," I muttered sleepily. Well I don't need to say that anymore; oh should already know that I was dead tired.  
"Really? You should. Feels good. Now go to sleep, beautiful, otherwise you won't be able to wake up for school tomorrow," he whispered.  
"Ugh. Don't remind me," I grumbled.  
Troy let out a small laugh and dropped a kiss on my forehead.  
"Sweet dreams," he said before wrapping me in his strong arms. How safe I felt.  
"You too," I mumbled into his bare shoulder.

HSM

The next morning, I woke up without the presence I loved beside me. When I opened my eyes, he was just sitting at my desk and looking at my laptop. You hear that? MY LAPTOP! Then I looked at my clock. 7:30!?  
"Thanks for waking me up," I groaned sarcastically.  
Troy chuckled.  
"You looked so cute and peaceful there; I could bear to wake you up."  
Aww, how sweet!  
"And why are you on _my_ laptop?" I demanded.  
He shrugged.  
"Just looking at stuff."  
"Stuff?"  
"Fan art," he elaborated.  
He brought the laptop closer to my face so I could see what was on the screen. It was a cute collage of different 'pause-worthy' moments in our music video. Most of them were nice poses during our dance and the middle one was the cover photo.  
"How I wish I could relive those moments," I said softly.  
"My dad says that we're doing dance or something similar in gym today so make sure you're wearing adequate clothing," he informed me.  
"Great! What type of dance?"  
"I don't know. Probably tango or ballroom," he replied, shutting down the laptop and closing it.  
"Oh my god!" I exclaimed suddenly. "We're gonna be late for school!"  
I sat bolt upright and jumped out the bed. I opened my closet and ripped out the first clothes I saw. When I turned around, I saw Troy watching me in amusement.  
"Seriously! How can you just sit there and watch me? There is no use in..."  
"Gabriella, chill. We'll get there in time as long as you don't spend hours on makeup or something. School's just down the road anyway," he interrupted.  
I rolled my eyes crossly and stalked out of the room into the bathroom. I threw on my clothes and put some light makeup: mascara and some foundation. I didn't even bother to wait for Troy when I ran down the stairs to eat breakfast.  
"I was wondering when you were coming down," Zac said, not turning around.  
I sat down at the table and rested my chin on my palm.  
"Well someone, aka Troy, didn't even bother to wake me up," I explained in an annoyed tone.  
"What is he? Your personal alarm?" Zac snorted. "I didn't know he stayed over."  
"Well he did."  
"Fine with me."  
"See, Troy?" I said as I heard him coming down the stairs behind me. "I told you he wouldn't mind."  
We are our breakfast and soon after, we were out the door and inside school grounds.  
We didn't make much physical contact at school, not because of embarrassment, but because it didn't seem to make sense. What was the point of telling people that we were a couple if they already knew? Actually, the whole wide world knew.  
When we reached our lockers, someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around.  
"I told you I wanted a full review," Jacob smirked.  
"Oh yeah, right. He stayed for the nigh and we slept together. That's all," I said in as little words as possible.  
He raised an eyebrow at me.  
"I thought you were having sex until marriage."  
I suddenly realised what I had said.  
"DAMN IT!" I yelled so the whole hall turned to look at me. "I HATE HOW SLEEPING TOGETHER HAS 2 DIFFERENT MEANINGS!"  
The student body stared at me and wen though I was facing the other way, I could tell they were staring.  
"What she means to say," Troy said calmly, "is that we slept in the same bed and did nothing else. Oh wait, we watched High School Musical and are popcorn and pizza before that."  
"Thank you, Troy," I said, relieved.  
"Anytime," he winked and I blushed.  
"I trust your work, Bolton," Jacob nodded and went to his own locker.  
"Come on," Troy said. "Don't want to make Darbus angry."  
He tugged on my hand and literally dragged me to home room and pushed me down into my seat before taking his at the front of the classroom.  
"Good morning, young thespians!" she said in her usual overly-theatrical voice that annoyed me to no end. "As you all know, Senior Year is full of events and one of the upcoming ones is the Spring Ball. Similar to last years, it will be a formal dinner and dance with dates, however, we will not be having a theme. Tickets will be sold in the cafeteria during lunches. Mr. Cross?"  
"Can you please tell us the whole programme of the dance?"  
The class groaned.  
RING!  
Luck was on my side and I rushed out of the classroom but slowed to a walk soon after. Troy caught up to me.  
"Hey! What's the rush?" he asked.  
"Oh you know. Jus trying to avoid boring classes, annoying teachers and pointless questions," I said.  
We entered the gym and sat on the bleachers. Once the whole class had arrived, Coach Bolton explained to us what we were doing.  
"Today's topic is one of my least favourites. But since it's compulsory, we are going to be learning how to tango. A tango is a dance that is performed in partners. You and your partner are required to stay in a close embrace. Your dance teacher will explain more."  
Ms. Farwither was a kind, young lady who was very experience with all types of dances. She helped Ryan to choreograph some dances in the school musicals as well as teaching freshman and some sophomores basic dance techniques and theory. I like her very much.  
Of course, I chose Troy to be my partner. If I had chose anyone else, I would've died on the spot. Even thought here was only 1 of Ms. Farwither, it was easy to follow her movement because one person just had to do the opposite unless there were dips, aerials or other stunts.  
"This may very well be one of my favourite gym classes," Troy said huskily while we were dancing.  
"And why is that?" I smirked.  
"Because I'm dancing a sexy dance with a very sexy girl. An in love this dance because it involves very close bodily contact," he said seductively.  
"Oh really?" I teased. "Well, I was thinking the same thing. I'm dancing a hot dance with my hot and sexy boyfriend. And his touch makes me feel emotionally and physically healthy."  
"And is your hot and sexy boyfriend turning you on?" he whispered in the way too sexy, low voice of his.  
"Maybe, maybe not, but it sure does feel great," I smiled.  
The song ended and we finished in our end position. This was another event I wanted to relive.  
"Very good job, boys and girls. I can see that some of you are naturals at dance and others improved dramatically since the beginning of the lesson. Keep it up!" Ms. Farwither motivated us.  
After a few more boring classes, it was lunch time. Troy had disappeared to who knows where while I was at my locker putting my books away. I took out some money from my wallet and went into the cafeteria. I lined up and bought some delicious-looking homemade lasagne and sat down at our usual table. Everyone except for Chad and Troy were there but it was typical of Chad to be late. Soon, Chad squeezed his butt between Taylor and Zeke and he started to eat his lunch, looking the equivalent of a pig.  
"What?" Chad asked with his mouth full when he caught all of us staring.  
"You're disgusting, bro," Zeke said in disgust as he watch one of his best friends eat his lunch.  
"Yeah, I agree," Jacob said, sitting down beside me. I was glad that the gang were no longer wary around Jacob. They accepted him like a good friend, although, he wasn't around all the time. Sometimes he hung out with his football team friends.  
"Hey, Jacob! Have you seen Troy?" I asked.  
"Troy? I saw him a few seconds ago at his locker. He told me to tell you that he forgot to take his money when he put his books away and that he left his locker fast because he needed to pee," Jacob explained.  
"Okay? That's really detailed," I said.  
Hmm. Fishiness, but then I saw Troy waiting in the lunch line so he must've been right.  
"So, Gabriella? How did you find gym this morning?" Sharpay asked me slyly. I saw that mischievous glint in her eyes again.  
"'twas great," I shrugged. She looked at me doubtfully. "What do you want me to say?"  
"That Troy was turning you on, of course," she said.  
"Okay... I liked gym this morning because Troy was turning my on... of course," I repeated slowly, making sure that I sounded unsure to annoy her.  
"Oh, come on! Say it like you mean it!" she growled in a un-Sharpay-like way.  
"What's up?" Troy asked, sitting on my other side.  
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You're a life saver! Sharpay was making me repeat statements and I didn't want to!" I said.  
Sharpay huffed and crossed her arms.  
"She wasn't admitting that you turned her on in gym," she complained.  
Troy turned to me.  
"Well someone did say that their boyfriend was turning them on during the dance but maybe I was thinking of the wrong person," he joked.  
I gave him a big, toothy smile and our noses rubbed sweetly. The gang 'awwed' and Taylor snapped a photo of us like that, saying that it was so adorably cute.  
"You guys are too cute!" she exclaimed.  
"Yeah, what she said," Jacob agreed.  
When we finished eating, Troy dragged me up to my favourite place in the school: the rooftop garden and we sat down on a bench. He whipped out two Spring Ball tickets from his jeans pocket.  
"So, I asked Jacob to stall for me while bought tickets so some certain people wouldn't notice. I was wondering if you could give me some advice as to who to take," he said teasingly, so I decided to mock him back.  
"Well, I know one girl who really wants to go with you, but then again, I bet the whole female population in this school including teachers and parents would live in a dream if you were their date, so that means that this girl has much competition."  
Troy rested his head in his palms, pretending to be confused and stressed about the current situation. A giggle escaped my mouth and he immediately stared up at me.  
"Did you just giggle?" he asked.  
I flushed and nodded, looking away. He turned my head back to look at him.  
"It's cute," he complimented.  
"Thanks," I replied shyly.  
"So I know this girl whom I love and she would be a perfect date and a beautiful dance partner," he began and then smiled his amazing smile again. "So do you want to go with me?"  
He handed me a ticket and I feigned shock even though I knew he was going to ask me anyway. I broke out into a grin.  
"I'd be honoured," I said. "You know, now I understand how hard a man's life is. I used to this a woman's life was hard because of periods and childbirth and all that stuff, but now I see how hard a man's life is. Firstly, the men have to do all the asking in fear of being rejected. They are usually, not always, but usually the ones who ask the girl on a date or to be their girlfriend or go to prom with them or for their hand in marriage. Secondly, the men are obliged to pay with their own money during adate which includes a meal. And finally, the man has to all gentleman-ish and do what the girl says to make her happy," I explained.  
"See, now you can sympathise for me," Troy said.  
"And for real, thanks for asking me. You really don't know how many girls constantly dream of talking to you. They gossip and talk about you in the bathroom. One of the cheerleaders was planning to get her parents to kidnap you and bring you home. Then you two would be locked in her bedroom and she'd tie you to her bed so she can freely make out and have sex with you. Eww! That gives me shivers!" I told him, shuddering.  
"I'll pray that that doesn't happen to me during my lifetime and it's my pleasure to bring my favourite girl to the dance," he smiled.  
He took my hand and pulled me up with him. He led me to a new flower bed with some beautiful blue and purple flowers as a decoration.  
"These are the new flowers the science club built," he informed me. "I don't know what they're called, but do you like them?"  
"They're beautiful," I breathed.  
Troy turned to me and I faced him.  
"Just like you," he whispered.  
I leant up to kiss his lips and closed my eyes. It felt like heaven to have your lips massaged with so much love. He used one of his arms to pull me towards him so our bodies were touching and I wrapped my arms around his neck. He wrapped his other arm around my waist and held me close like he was my protector who could keep me safe forever.  
When we broke apart, I rested my head in the crook of his neck and we stayed like that until the end of lunch break.

HSM

I had a present for Troy. Can you guess what it was? Yes, it was the song I recorded for him called 'Savour.' I was going to give it to him today so I picked up my phone.

"Troy?" I asked.

"Hey, Gabs. What's up?" he replied.

"Well… I was wondering if maybe you could come over. I have something for you," I hesitated.

"Okay, I'll be right over."

Troy and I sat on my bed and I stared at my CD player.

"So why did you ask me to come over?"

My shoulders rosed up and then slumped.

"I have something for you but I don't want you to judge," I told him slowly.

"Okay!" he said a little to excitedly for my liking. I wasn't sure if he would like it. "What is it?"

I held up the CD and slid into the player. I pressed the play button and crossed my fingers, hoping that he would like it.

 _As a small girl, thought I had everything_

 _Didn't know, what could I be missing_

 _But you came, and gave me something_

 _How could I ask for more?_

 _You saved me, brought me up from hell_

 _I saw you, and I simply fell_

 _Was it love, but I couldn't tell_

 _Open another door_

 _And then it happened all at once_

 _I couldn't trust nobody else_

 _But you_

 _You said to me that you loved me_

 _I had the thought but could it be?_

 _It's true_

 _Oh it's your love and I wanna savour it_

 _It's your love and baby it's my favourite_

 _How is it possible to taste the flavour_

 _If you don't savour?_

 _As an old girl, I can dream to live_

 _I was thinking, what else could he possibly give?_

 _This is my life, that I wanna relive_

 _How can I die now?_

 _Now and with you, I can dream of anything_

 _Doesn't matter, cause everything you can bring_

 _And that's what, makes me really wanna sing_

 _Come and say it loud_

 _And then it happened all at once_

 _I couldn't trust nobody else_

 _But you_

 _You said to me that you loved me_

 _I had the thought but could it be?_

 _It's true_

 _Oh it's your love and I wanna savour it_

 _It's your love and baby it's my favourite_

 _How is it possible to taste the flavour_

 _If you don't savour?_

 _Oh it's your love and I wanna pure it_

 _It's your love and baby that's my life's cure it_

 _How is it possible to taste the flavour_

 _If you don't savour?_

 _There's no rush_

 _Baby we take our time_

 _Come and hush_

 _Baby you are now mine_

 _Come on out_

 _Baby who's it gonna be now?_

 _Not a doubt_

 _Baby it will work somehow_

 _Oh it's your love and I wanna savour it_

 _It's your love and baby it's my favourite_

 _How is it possible to taste the flavour_

 _If you don't savour?_

 _Oh it's your love and I wanna pure it_

 _It's your love and baby that's my life's cure it_

 _How is it possible to taste the flavour_

 _If you don't savour?_

 _(Save, savour it)_

 _(Save, savour it)_

 _(Baby we gonna take our time)_

 _(Save, Savour it)_

 _Save, Savour it)_

 _(Baby I want you to be mine)_

I didn't dare to look up at Troy's face in case any signs of doubt, dislike or all other negative emotions were written on it. I didn't say a word and that made it awkward. But then, he wrapped me in his arms in a bone crushing hug and kissed my forehead. Oh thank you Lord!

"I loved it!" he commended.

"Thanks," I blushed, hiding my face in his shoulder.

"So this was the song you were working on for me?" he asked.

I nodded.

"I was going to do a video for it but I wasn't sure what to do; just stand there and sing? That's boring," I mumbled and he chuckled.

"The song is more than enough. Thank you," he applauded.

He unwrapped his arms from around me.

"You can keep the CD if you want, but if you don't want it that's okay, I can just give it back to my manager and he will…"

I was cut off by his finger on my lips.

"Ssh. Don't be so paranoid. I told you I love it and it's gonna stay that way. Anyway, I would love anything you gave me even if gave me a broken pencil lead for Christmas," he told me.

I laughed.

"Okay, that makes me feel much better."

"Do you want to work on our project? We've finished the first song. Maybe we can do your song now," he suggested.

"Ugh. I hate writing songs. I get mind blanks all the time," I groaned.

"You've written 2 albums of songs. At least _you've_ practiced," he said.

"But still… it's hard!" I complained.

"The first two lines should be:

"I wasn't looking for money, just someone to hold me close

And then I found and was like, oh my god he knows!"

I laughed at his suggestion.

"That's funny! I should totally add somewhere!"

HSM

Once upon a time lived a girl named Gabriella Montez.

She got into a car crash and died.

And everybody else but her lived happily ever after.

HSM

I got out my car keys, intending to visit my manager to ask him some work-related questions. I jumped into my car energetically and reversed out of the driveway, but as I drove along the highway, I noticed that something wasn't right. There was this car that was getting closer too fast. It seemed like it wasn't going the right way…

I realised what was happening and screamed and honked, but it was too late. I didn't swerve in time.

Everything went black.

HSM

"Dad! She's in hospital!" someone shouted. "Can you just give me break from basketball and think about others?"

"Troy…"

"No, dad. I can't stand it anymore. I'm sick of you getting basketball to revolve around my life. It can revolve around yours, but not _mine_!" the boy yelled.

Troy.

"Troy! You listen to me _now_!" the man argued angrily.

"No! I'm going back in now so I can be there when she wakes up."

I heard his footsteps and he sat next to the bed. I felt him touch my hand and hold onto it like he was a scared kid in a large supermarket. Apart from being unable to move, my head hurt like made and my body was throbbing. My mouth was dry and my nose was blocked.

"Troy…" I whispered.

I could sense his eyes going wide.

"Gabi?"

"Troy…"

"Gabi? You're awake! Oh my god! Thank you Lord!" he almost sang.

I fought to open my eyes and I turned my head to look around.

Where the hell was I?

I was lying down on a weird bed with pillows and tubes and stuff. There were trolleys with bottle or weird substances.

The hospital.

"What… what happened?" I asked quietly.

"You were driving along the highway and some guy was driving the wrong way. You got hit…" he trailed off.

Then it all came to me.

The highway. The funny sense of bad happenings. The crash. The darkness.

"Gabi? Say something," he begged.

I saw his curious blue eyes staring at me.

"How long?" I managed to get out.

"Way, way too long," he replied quickly. "You were in a coma for about 4 weeks."

My eyes widened. 4 weeks? That was long…

Troy leant his head down and kissed me on my lips for a short second.

Please do it again!

He hovered over my lips before his lips brushed mine and kissed me again.

"Please don't ever do that again! I was scared to death!" he said.

"I'm sorry. The first thing you think of when someone is driving towards you is to honk and scream, not change lanes. I didn't do it fast enough," I said sadly.

"It's not your fault, Gabi. It was _him_ who was driving the wrong way, after all. Look, I'd better go get a doctor and tell them that you're awake."

He left.

Soon afterwards, a doctor came bustling into the room. He look weird because he was wearing too small glasses and a monocle on top of his left eye.

"Miss. Montez," he said. "Glad to see you're awake. Troy here wouldn't leave your side."

Troy smiled bashfully at me from behind the doctor.

"After the crash, you had a few injuries: a bruised on in your leg, some bruises on your head and 3 broken ribs. Others were just scratches here and there," the doctor explained.

"When am I allowed to leave?" I asked.

"Tomorrow."

HSM

"For the first week, Troy only drank water. The second week, we had to force him to drink canned soups and after that he only ate very little," Lucille told me while I was having dinner at the Bolton's'.

I had been released from the hospital in the morning and first went home to see Zac. He was overjoyed that I was alright and he gave me a bone crushing hug. He told me that he was scared to death like Troy was.

"What?" I asked surprised. "Troy, you didn't… that wasn't necessary!"

"He wouldn't even play basketball," Jack said, rolling his eyes.

I rolled my eyes too.

"That's understandable," I murmured.

"I was sad, okay?" Troy said.

"How are you feeling, dear?" Lucille asked.

"Good because I finally get to eat food, although, I _do_ like hospital food very much. I'm tired," I replied honestly.

"Would you like to stay for the night?"

"I'll call Zac first," I said, dialling his number. "Zac?"

"Gabi? How are you doing?"

"Alright. Can I stay at Troy's tonight?" I asked.

"That's fine. Date's back on tonight," he replied.

"You skipped a date for me?" I cooed. "That's sweet."

"Priority number one: look after Gabriella Montez."

I laughed.

"Okay, thanks, Zac. Love you."

"You too. See you later!"

I shut of my phone and continued eating.

"He skipped a date for you?" Lucille asked. "That's nice. Troy, would you do that for Gabi?"

Troy looked up confusedly.

"Well, considering that I'd be going on a date with Gabi, I would cancel it if she needed me. What's the point in going on a date alone?"

"Oh, right! I forgot! Sorry," Lucille apologised.

"Hey, do you need help with the dishes or anything?" I asked when I had finished eating.

"Dishes? Oh no! You go upstairs with Troy and rest," Lucille said, pushing my away towards the stairs.

Troy chuckled behind me.

"You don't need to wash," he said. "You're a guest. Guests don't do the washing up."

"It's always polite to help," I shrugged.

"Good soul."

We both laughed and plopped onto his bed, lying down, facing each other.

"Did you really not eat or leave my side?" I asked quietly.

He nodded.

"Aww, love you too," I smiled.

"Me three."

What?

We burst out laughing again for some reason. It was like we could read each other's minds to know what the other was thinking.

"The rest of the gang also came to visit too, you know. Zac came here when he woke up and then he had to leave for work. Then he came straight back from work and went home for bed. Now you know how much people care for you," Troy told me.

"I know they care, but the people who didn't care for me in the past still bother me," I admitted.

"Well, don't let them get to you."

"I'm tired," I said.

"Then go to bed. Simple solution."

"Wow. You're so smart, aren't you?" I asked sarcastically. "I'll take a shower."

I went into the bathroom and had a warm shower. It was very refreshing. I slipped into Troy's bed and waited for him to finish. Obviously, he was out soon after and we snuggled up together, falling asleep in seconds.

Okay, maybe not in seconds because I usually date hours to sleep, but it seemed like seconds.

HSM

"Gabriella!" Sharpay squealed. "You're back!"

"No shit Sherlock," I groaned, rubbing my eyes tiredly.

"Didn't get much sleep?" Taylor asked.

"Oh I did. Troy's arms are very nice to sleep in. I'm just tired from the hospital still," I explained.

"You slept with Troy?" Sharpay shrieked.

Seriously?

"No. I slept on the ground and detached his arms from his body so I could use them as teddy bears," I said sarcastically. "I slept in his bed."

Sharpay rolled her eyes and fluffed her hair.

"You know what I mean."

"Gabriella, why don't we go to our lockers now," Taylor suggested.

Lifesaver!

"Thanks Tay! You saved me from Sharpay!" I thanked her after Sharpay was out of earshot.

"Yeah. She does that a lot if you haven't noticed already," Taylor told me. "So you didn't sleep with Troy?"

I slapped her arm.

"Tay!"

"What? Just asking," she said innocently.

"I hate you."

"Hate's a strong word," she lectured.

"Go sleep with yourself!" I said playfully.

She burst out laughing.

"What?" I asked.

"I just love how you censor curses. Go sleep with yourself? No one says that!" she marvelled.

"I want to keep my mouth clean," I shrugged.

"You said 'shit' before," she argued.

"That just mean poo," I defended myself.

"And the F word means to have sex," she countered.

"I hate you."

"You're hating on me a lot today," she commented.

"You deserve it."

"I need to tell you something. Grant Hedger left our Scholastic Decathlon team so there's a vacancy. I was thinking of asking Troy but his dad wouldn't let him join. You're very smart so I thought that I should ask you," Taylor requested.

"When are the meetings and how often are competitions?" I asked.

"Tuesdays after school and there a competition every term, so you can come today if you want to," she proposed.

"Okay. I'll just tell Troy that I'll walk home today. Actually, why do I even ask him to drive me home if my house is down the road. That's just wasting petrol. Oh, it's on the way to his house so it's not. But it is because he drives in and out of my driveway…" I rambled on to myself, forgetting that Taylor was still there.

"There's basketball practice today. Troy's dad is mad at him because he didn't attend practice while you were in hospital," Taylor said.

"Oh my god! The school is going to lose their games because of me and my less than mediocre driving skills!" I stressed.

"Gabriella, stop. It wasn't your fault and I'm sure Troy can catch up. He doesn't even need to catch up because he's too far on top of everyone else, so stop stressing," she calmed me.

"Like I didn't know he was the best."

HSM

After school, Taylor led me to the Scholastic Decathlon team's practice and discussion room. There were some kids there already.

"Hey, guys. Gabriella is visiting today. This is John Pane (Tall, brown haired boy) and this is Penny Graham (Short, black haired girl with glasses) and lastly, Rick Aston (Blond boy with too white teeth,)" Taylor introduced to me. "We have 5 people on our team usually and since Grant left, we only 4 now. We're hoping you can join."

"Yeah, Gabriella. You should join. You're smart," Rick Aston winked at me.

Wait. Hold up. Was he trying to hit on me? I blinked and cowered behind Taylor.

"I'll think about it," I said honestly.

For 2 hours, the team practiced what I thought were 'useless' exercises. They were boring and unworthy of being used to learn.  
"So, what do you think?" Taylor asked after practice was over.  
"I'll keep considering," I replied. "Honestly, I think that you should rethink your resources," I advised.  
Taylor's shoulders slumped and I place a hand on her back for encouragement.  
"Hey, don't think I'm trying to point out all of your faults. I'm just trying to give helpful criticism, if you understand," I reassured her.  
She gave me a weak smile.  
"Thanks Gabriella. I appreciate it."  
I suddenly realised that I had forgotten my chemistry books in my locker and I had homework due the next day.  
"Oh crap! I'm just gonna get my chem books from my locker and then wait for Troy. See you tomorrow, Tay!" I said, waving at her and walking out of the classroom.  
When I reached my locker, I felt an odd presence behind me. The person had an aura that was... greedy?  
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Gabriella Montez."  
I took a deep breath and turned around to see Rick Aston standing far too close behind me for my liking.  
"I'm honoured that you already know my name," I said sarcastically, placing a hand over my heart.  
"And who doesn't know who the famous Gabriella Montez is?" I cringed. "I'm just trying to be nice."  
"Charmed."  
"What about dinner on Friday at 7?" he asked suddenly.  
Okay. Try to keep cool.  
"Honey, I don't eat dinner at 7," I smiled, shaking my head. "That's my bedtime."  
"Understandable," he said. "Girls like you need their beauty sleep."  
"And other girls need makeup to look pretty," I added. "Look, Aston. I'm not going to flirt around with you one: because I'm not interested and two: I'm sure you've noticed that I'm indeed in a relationship."  
"Pfft!" he chortled. "It doesn't seem like it. You guys nearly show any signs of being in a relationship!"  
"Deal with then. I love him and he loves me. You don't want to be the heartbreaker, do you?" I asked.  
He scoffed.  
"Heartbreaker? No, girls just come running to me and I accidentally break their hearts by rejecting them. I tell them that I'm simply not interested and they go off crying. It's not my fault."  
"That's interesting," I mused. "I don't seem to see and girls running to you nowadays."  
I looked back into my locker in search of my books, but he grabbed my cheek and turned my head to look back at him.  
"Can't you see that I'm interested in you?" he asked, caressing my cheek.  
Was that supposed to be seductive? Well I wasn't turned on.  
"Well, the feeling's not mutual," I mumbled. "I've known you for 2 hours."  
"They say love at first sight is always a charmer," he winked.  
"Well, too bad for you, I didn't fall in love with you at first sight," I retorted, slamming my locker door forcefully. "Can you leave now?"  
He grabbed my hand and placed it on my heart, making an ugly puppy dog face.  
"Can you see how fast my heart is beating for you?" he asked me.  
I saw Troy emerge from the other corridor and saw my face. He laughed silently and I made an annoyed face, without looking in his direction but he knew it was directed for him. Aston didn't know that Troy was standing behind him.  
"I want to watch the show so keep going," Troy mouthed.  
I rolled eyes and groaned inwardly.  
"Can you see how fast my heart is beating because I'm scared?" I retaliated.  
He gave me a big grin.  
"Then we can have and Beauty and Beast sort of relationship," he beamed.  
"But when Gaston shoots you, I'll let you die," I smirked.  
"Good one," Troy mouthed.  
"You know you want me," Aston whispered huskily in my ear.  
"Someone else might, but I've gotta go. My boyfriend's waiting for me," I accented the 'boyfriend' and hopefully he got the hint. If he didn't, then he was stupid.  
He turned around and growled when he saw Troy leaning on the wall, with an amused look on his face.  
"Afternoon, Aston," he grinned cheekily.  
"Fuck you, Bolton."  
He stalked off angrily and I linked hands with Troy.  
"So how was the show?" I asked.  
He pondered for a moment.  
"It was nice and smart at the start, but then you left a little hurriedly," he criticised.  
"Thing is, I didn't want to stay in case he made me angry and I lashed out on him," I replied.  
"Good soul."  
He opened the passenger's door for me cough cough like a gentleman cough cough and next second, we were on the road.  
"Zac's off doing sunset and night scenes 2 nights in a row starting today. Can you stay over tonight?" I asked.  
"Why not. Your bed's comfy," he added.  
"I like it too."  
When we arrived home, we found ourselves on the floor, doing our music project.  
"Making progress. We've done 2 songs in the 2 days we've worked on it," Troy said.  
"Don't forget our duet. We can do yours now," I suggested. "Why won't you be with me."  
"What?"  
"That should be the title of the song," I said.  
 _"The first day I saw you, there was something 'bout you that made me stare_ _  
_ _You made it clear that you, didn't want anybody to care_ _  
_ _But when you're so mysterious, I couldn't help but find out why_ _  
_ _Didn't help I was delirious, was there something wrong or were you just shy?"_ _  
_I stared at him oddly.  
"Boom! Off the top of my head," Troy grinned. "I'm gonna write that down."

"Smartass," I muttered.

"I heard that," he said without looking up. "I'd rather be a smartass than a dumbass."

"You're still an ass, though," I said.

"Asses are beautiful," he said.

"Yours isn't," I replied.

"You haven't seen it before."

"I'm not planning to."

"I'm hungry," Troy said when he finished writing down his lyrics. "You have food?"

"Yeah," I yawned. "Marshmallows and oranges."

"Haha," he laughed. "Remember that time?"

 _Flashback_

 _I arrived at Sharpay's house once again. She had given up at trying to stop me from joining the group meetings._

" _Get in… bitch," she muttered._

" _I'll give you puppies with Boi," I smiled._

 _Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Sharpay had a 2 year old dog named Boi. He was the cutest little thing but Sharpay HAD to insist on buying him those little costumes._

 _I sat down on her couch, still admiring the place. There was always something new to look at in her living room._

" _How's Montez-Hater today?" she asked._

" _Exceptional," I grinned. "Montez had a shit day today."_

" _How would you know?" Taylor sneered._

" _I saw her Instagram," I shrugged._

 _Sharpay whipped out her phone and searched for her idol (me) and pressed her story._

" _Had a shit day today. Hope you're all doing well," she read and then looked up at me. "So you're happy that she had a bad day?"_

 _I shrugged again._

" _Kind of. I mean… hard days make you become a better person."_

" _She's got a point," Chad chimed in._

 _Zeke, Taylor and Sharpay glared at him._

" _But Gabriella Montez is not a bad person. She's like… perfect," Zeke interrupted._

 _A sound from Troy that sounded very much like a strangled cough mixed with a laugh directed out attention to him._

" _Something funny, Troy Boy?" Sharpay asked._

" _No. Nothing in particular. Just feeling kind of… sick?" he said unsurely._

" _Sick of New Girl insulting our favourite celebrity?"_

" _Of course," he nodded. "Montez doesn't deserve to have people saying bad things about her. She's like the nicest girl around. She has a big, loving heart and she's brave and strong and influential… in a good way."_

 _He smiled at me and I smiled back from under my cap. What he didn't know was that my heart was very touched by those words. He said them in front of everybody._

" _You hear that? New Girl?" Taylor asked. "She's all that, unlike you!"_

 _I stood up and laughed._

" _I'll be right back."_

 _I jumped into my car and drove to the shops. There, I grabbed a packet of marshmallows and a bag of oranges and paid for them. I went back to Sharpay's house and knocked. Sharpay appeared looking annoyed at me… as usual._

" _I'm back," I said cheerily._

 _I sat back on the couch and began to eat my marshmallows while people stared at me weirdly._

 _"What?" I asked. "It calms me!"_ _  
_ _"You're a lunatic!" Chad exclaimed._ _  
_ _"And that makes me special."_ _  
_ _End flashback_  
"Ah, the good times," I said. "If I didn't tell you I was, would you have guessed?"  
"Maybe. Sharpay's pretty blind and Chad's just stupid. Taylor's supposed to be smart and Zeke is too obsessed with cooking to care. You showed signs of hatred to towards yourself, but you knew so much about her."  
"I have pasta," I said.  
"That'll do. Italian food is bomb," Troy stated.  
We ate in non-awkward silence.  
"You sleep early," he commented.  
"Sleeping's fun so you want to do it as soon as possible," I said. "I can go to bed now."  
"Gosh, woman!" he exclaimed. "You make me sleep so early!"  
"I never said you had to sleep at the same time as me," I replied.  
"I can never get enough of you sleeping, beautiful," he complimented.  
"Aww, that's sweet. You look good sleeping too," I said from the top of the stairs.  
"I'm gonna hack into your laptop again while you shower," he told me.  
"Have fun!" I called.  
I shut the door behind me and jumped into the hot shower. I washed of Aston's germs from my face and cringed as I felt his sweat. Disgusting!  
I washed off my makeup and put on cream. Then I wrapped a towel around my body and went back into my room. Troy was there on my laptop... of course. He turned to me.  
"Looking sexy as usual," he winked and I blushed.  
"I'm just going to get changed real fast. Don't look!"  
He turned around on my spinny chair. I loved spinny chairs. They made you feel more free when doing work. You could spin on them.  
"Look at this comment," Troy laughed. "Yeah, that's right. Gabriella doesn't love you."  
"That sounds like Aston," I said. "Over 1 billion views. What a miracle! We've got to do a tour."  
"If you want. Where?" he asked.  
"I don't know. I'll figure out. I'm going to bed now and you can go and shower," I said, slipping under the sheets.  
"Okay, mom," he replied.  
Soon enough, we were snuggled up, under the blankets.

HSM

The next morning, I woke up feeling warm and comfortable. I found Troy's around me and smiled as I thought of what he did to me. That boy sure was a miracle from heaven straight from God himself.  
"I know you're awake," he mumbled from behind me into my shoulder.  
"How'd you know?"  
"You're breathing quickened," he explained.  
"Okay. It's time to get up now, Mr. Observant," I teased.  
I took my phone from my bedside table and turned it on. I looked at the date and gasped. I had totally forgotten what day it was. 26th of October, my dear father's birthday. He would be turning 42 today. I opened Instagram and searched up 'Carlos Montez.' He was there and I would wish him Happy Birthday after school.

"Get up, sleepy head," I ordered.

He groaned and hugged me tighter.

"I don't want to go to school today," he complained like a the kid he was at heart.

"You know you have to. Do you really want to be alone in the house all day?" I asked.

"We could skip together," he suggested hopefully.

"Dream on," I rolled my eyes.

"Only for you."

I arrived at school with high hopes of avoiding Taylor, but as usual, luck wasn't on my side.

"Gabriella!" she almost yelled over the crowd. "Have you decided yet?"

I shook my head, trying my best to look sad.

"I'm sorry. I had a lot on my mind last night. I had homework, work, and all sorts of other things. I don't know," I replied.

"It's alright. I can wait. Just get back to me as soon as you can. Hey, babe!" she kissed Chad on the lips as he came, not late for school, for once.

"Hey! Watcha talkin' about?" he asked.

"Decathlon," I said.

"You joined?"

"I'm thinking about it. Depends if I have time," I replied.

When I got home from school, I went up to my bedroom alone. Troy went home to find out what errands he needed to run for his mother. I decided that I was cold (even though it was Summer) and it would be a great time to experience my first bath. I began to fill my bathtub and added some soap for bubbles. Then I stripped and laid down in the warm water. It was very relaxing, but I had something else on my mind.

My dad.

I grabbed my phone from the bench and pressed the 'message' button on his Instagram.

"Happy Birthday, Dad," I said as I typed it.

That was a nice and short message for him. Worst-case scenario, he would respond back at me, cursing me for leaving him. Well, I was already cursed, so what did that matter?

 _Beep_

I picked up my phone.

carlosmontez sent you a message.

I read the message and instantly drowned myself in tears. The bathtub was overflowing by now so I unplugged the plug and let the water drain.

He had replied with, "I don't deserve to be happy so don't wish me that."

That message killed my heart and chopped it in two like that fruit salad game or whatever it was. He sounded sorry and almost… remorseful? That meant that he regretted every time he hit me, punched me, slapped me or raped me. Such a simple message with such a deep meaning behind it. I wrapped my arms around my bare legs and cried into my knees, not caring that I was now freezing to death in the warm-waterless bathtub.

I heard the front door open. Crap. I had forgotten to lock it. Hopefully it wasn't a burglar or something, but right now, I couldn't bring myself to see who it was. I heard footsteps come up the stairs and into my room.

"Gabriella?"

Oh, it was only Troy.

"I told you to lock your door."

Of course. He was such a stranger smart kid.

"Where the hell are you?"

"And he was also such a caring guy.

I heard the bathroom door open, but didn't look up. I couldn't bring myself to. First of all, I was naked and he was a guy. Second of all, I had tear stains all over my face and he would ask me questions. Actually, he would ask me questions as to why I was sitting in an empty bathtub anyway. Then, I did look up to see his concerned face. He had come closer to the bathtub, carefully, and leant over the side. Not gonna lie, I was a little shocked that he was looking at my face, not my body.

"I had my first bath," I whispered. "Look at this."

I showed him what my dad had sent me and burst into tears again.

"I think we should do some concerts in Australia."


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: This chapter is Troy's point of view, not Gabriella's. I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to review.**

 **Bold: Author's Note/ Other**

Normal: Present

 _Italics: Flashback/ Song lyrics/ Texts_

 _Troy P.O.V._

I stepped onto the porch of Gabriella's house and knocked. No answer. Knock. No answer. She probably left it unlocked like her usual stranger dumb self. She did, in fact, anyone could've come in and she wouldn't have known.

I walked up the stairs and into her room. She wasn't there.

"Gabriella?" I called.

No answer.

"I told you to lock your door," I said.

No answer.

"Where the hell are you?" I asked.

Oh yeah, the bathroom. I opened the door softly and was shocked to see her in the bathtub, naked, and without water. She had wrapped her arms around knees and her head down. I walked towards her slowly and knelt down in front of her.

Now you may be thinking, Troy, you're a guy. How are you not turned on my that? Well, first of all, I do agree that she has an amazing body and it _does_ turn me on, but as of now, we were in the middle of a situation in which she was sitting in an empty bathtub… naked. She finally looked up at me with her horribly tear-stained face. That broke my heart.

"I had my first bath," she whispered.

I looked at her, concerned.

"Look at this," she said, showing me her phone.

She had sent _Happy Birthday_ to her father and her father had sent _I don't deserve to be happy so don't wish me that._ I could honestly see why she was upset and crying. Gabriella was so kind hearted and she thought that everyone (but herself) should be happy. I didn't know how she did it, especially with her past. She began to cry.

"I think we should do some concerts in Australia," she sobbed and curled up again.

Without thinking twice, I took of my socks and stepped in the bathtub, not caring that I would get wet. I sat down next to her, feeling extremely awkward because my butt was getting when and the bathtub was small. I wrapped my arms around her wet skin and she clutched onto my arm, crying into it.

"Hey," I whispered to her. "We can get through this together, alright?"

"I-I c-can't beli-lieve th-that he th-thinks th-that he shou-shouldn't b-be happ-py," she cried.

"Then we can go to Australia and tell him that," I said softly.

"Will you come with me?" she looked up at me.

"Of course. I love you, remember?" I reminded her.

"I remember. I love you too," she said.

"Come on. You should get out of here now," I told her.

She nodded and I moved to stand up. I grabbed her towel and placed it around her body.

"Do you need help?" I asked.

She looked me in the eyes and nodded slowly. It was barely noticeable as if she was too shy to ask, but she wanted it. But then again, I would be shy if I were in her position.

I helped her to stand up and she stepped out of the bathtub, shivering furiously. Then, I took her hand and lead her out of the bathroom, back into her own room and started to go through her closet. She didn't have as much clothes as I would've expected for a closet this size.

"Can I wear your clothes. They're warm," she asked me timidly.

Like I would say no.

I nodded and took out a pair of my pants, a shirt and a hoodie. Yes, I kept some of my clothes in her closet because I slept over often. I didn't want to go back home every day to look for clothes. Then, I went to her dresser and got an underwear for her. She didn't wear bra's to sleep and it wasn't bedtime, but I figure that she wouldn't be bothered to change into her pyjamas.

I walked over to her and touched her towel. I looked back at her and her eyes gave me permission to unwrap it from her body. So I did so. I helped her stand up and put her underwear on. Then, I put on her shirt and pants. She could put on the hoodie herself and she looked really cute and cozy in that outfit. It was way too big for her, but she looked so innocent and warm in there that it made my heart melt.

"Thank you," she whispered, once she had finished changing. "And sorry, for making you get wet and help me."

I sat down next to her and gave her a big and loving hug. She rested her head in my neck.

"Don't be sorry. You needed help so I gave it to you," I reassured her. "And I love you so much."

"Thanks, Troy," she mumbled.

HSM

 _RING_

Gabriella unlocked the door and I saw her and Zac standing with a suitcase each.

"Good, you finally locked your door," I said in a monotone.

"I was just thinking that," she mumbled.

I took her suitcase and Zac and I brought them into Zac's car. Then, I put my own suitcase in the car. Zac was driving us since we didn't want to park one of our cars at the airport for 2 weeks.

"Ready to go?"

Gabriella jumped into the car without answering and I got in after. Whenever there were 3 people in the car and Gabriella or I weren't driving, we would always sit at the back together.

When we arrived at the airport, Gabriella got us a trolley and we loaded our cases onto it. She hugged and kissed Zac goodbye and said their 'I love yous' and blah blah blah. Gabriella refused to do the checking in of our luggage since she found it 'boring,' so me, being the gentleman, did it for her.

"Are you alright?" I asked when she tensed up at the body scan.

"No! I'm gonna get in jail for having a drop of water that leaked into my bag 6 months ago!" she fretted.

"Calm yourself. You won't get beeped and even if you did, I'm sure they won't put you in jail," I assured her.

"I'll get a fine," she grumbled.

"Next!" called the security man.

She walked straight through the scanner, crossing her fingers and closing her eyes. She didn't get beeped and I didn't either. Miracles. After all the customs, scanning and whatnot, Gabriella decided to get some food to eat.

"I am absolutely _starving_!" she complained.

"There's food here. You can go order stuff," I said, rolling my eyes.

Gabriella ran all the way to a fancy-looking cafe, adequately named 'Cafe Fancy' and ordered some food. Then, she came running back looking like a crazy lunatic.  
"I bought you stuff," she said, giving me the bag.  
"Thanks, you didn't need to though."  
"You don't want it?" she raised her eyebrows. "In that case, I could totally eat it for you too."  
"Uh uh. Not happening," I replied, taking a first bite. How very like her to say that.  
I saw someone tap Gabriella's shoulder. It was a little boy with a cute grin on his face that showed all his teeth (and missing teeth.) In his hands, he held a camera, a notepad and a large sharpie.  
"Hi, Gabriella... and Troy!" he greeted excitedly.  
"Hey, little guy," Gabriella replied. "What's your name?"  
"George."  
"Mommy said I could come and ask for a picture and an... ottograf," he smiled.  
I chuckled.  
"Sure. Do you want us to sign you notepad?" she asked.  
"Yes, please."  
He gave Gabriella the notepad and she signed really big on the paper. I did the same.  
"Can I please have one picture with Gabriella, one picture with Troy and one picture with Troy and Gabriella?" he begged.  
"That would be great!" Gabriella encouraged him. "Why don't you ask your mommy to come and help us take pictures?"  
"Okay!" he said happily and bounced away. Soon, he came back with his mother.  
"Smile!" she said. "George, what do you say?"  
"Thank you, Gabriella and Troy," he said.  
Gabriella laughed.  
"He's a cute one," I said.  
George and his mother ran off, well rather, his mother had to drag him away from us.  
"First autograph," I said.  
"And such a cutie," she cooed.  
"Flight 223 from Albuquerque to Sydney, boarding at terminal 5 now," said a voice in the speaker.  
"We'd better go," I said, getting up.  
"Always the organised one," she teased.  
We showed the lady our boarding passes and we're let onto the plane. We decided to fly in economy since Gabriella's a really cheap person and it was the cheapest.  
"I'm tired," she yawned, once we were seating in our designated seats.  
We were seated next to the window and me, being the kind gentleman I am, let her sit at the window seat. It was squishy and uncomfortable but who cares? I was stuck with the girl I loved for 15 hours!  
"Then sleep," I said.  
"Nuh uh. You've gotta make the best of a plane experience. Watch as many movies as you can and get as much free food as you can. Ahh, the food. Delicious," she said, kissing the air.  
I stared at her weirdly.  
"Strange, strange," I muttered.  
"I heard that," she glared. "I'm gonna watch movies now. What do they have? Ferdinand."  
I watched her click on the movie and she relaxed. I groaned as the announcements, safety and instructions came on, feeling bored out of my mind. I decided to watch some sort of weird, violent, fighting movie that my mom would have NOT approved of.  
15 hours floated by. Yes, floated by. They certainly didn't fly by. My legs were numb as hell, and the seatbelt sign turned off, meaning that we could go.  
"Come on, Gabriella. Let's go," I urged her.  
"One second!" she insisted. "Okay, I'm done!"  
I rolled my eyes.  
"How many movies did you watch?" I asked.  
"8."  
When I didn't say anything, she continued.  
"Ferdinand, Peter Rabbit, Black Panther, Anne of Green Gables, Coco, the Shape of Water, Red Sparrow and some movie that was in Japanese."  
"Why would you watch something you don't understand?" I asked her, getting her small suitcase from the overhead lockers.  
"Subtitles," she shrugged.  
"Here's your bag. I'll take your suitcase," I offered, putting my own bag on my back.  
"Okay, thanks!"  
We walked off the plane and into the airport. We were going to do concerts in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne. Melbourne was also where Gabriella was going to visit her father and they could reconcile or something.  
We had hired some Australian dancers and we were going to rehearse with them for like 12 hours straight.  
I hauled Gabriella's heavy luggage off the chain and then mine which was not as heavy.  
"Jesus, Gabs! What did you put in there?" I cried.  
"Womanly stuff," she answered.  
We successfully got the attention of a taxi and he was going to drive us to our hotel.  
"So, what brings you here, to Sydney?" he asked.  
Why were taxi drivers always so friendly?  
"Uh..." I stuttered.  
"We're doing some concerts here and then I'm gonna try find my dad in Melbourne," Gabriella explained.  
The taxi driver suddenly honked out of nowhere and I jumped at the sudden, loud sound.  
"Holy crap!" he exclaimed. "I knew I recognised you two from somewhere. My wife's been begging me for tickets since the second they were out! I need to buy them," he added.  
"Okay..." I trailed off.  
"You want VIP tickets?" Gabriella offered.  
"Really?" the driver looked hopeful. "You don't have to."  
"I insist," Gabriella confirmed.  
"Then, you don't even need to pay for this ride."  
"Isn't that like... illegal?" I asked. "We'll pay and give the tickets."  
"I cannot that you guys enough!" he guy said. "My wife's gonna freak! Although, she's sad that you're not doing a meet and greet."  
"Well, we can always meet up in our free time," I suggested. "Troy, we have a couple hour, right?"  
"Right," I said. "Who's place. Ours or yours?"  
The taxi driver sniffed.  
"I was hoping mine. I'd like to surprise her. We can get your room and drop your cases and bags off. Then we can go to my house," he said.  
"Sound lovely," Gabriella said. "What about your work?"  
"Stuff that," the driver said. "This is more important."  
After going to the reception and getting our keys, the taxi driver help us take our luggage in and we we were off again.  
"I haven't even introduced myself!" he said. "My name is Harold and my wife's name is Lila. We have a baby girl called Rosie."  
"That's a nice name!" Gabriella complimented. "I can't wait to meet them."  
Harold stopped at a small house that had nice windows. Is that weird to notice windows? It looked homely from the outside and probably on the inside.  
"Okay guys," Harold instructed us. "Stay as hidden as possible but you can keep the window open to hear how much she loves you."  
"Wait." I said. "I have the tickets. Give it to her first. Baby's free."  
I whipped two tickets from my pockets and he smiled gratefully as I handed them to him. I opened rolled down the window a little and ducked.  
"Hi, honey!" I heard Harold say from afar.  
"You're home from work early," she giggled.  
"I have a surprise for you, wait, no. 2 surprises!" Harold said.  
"Will I like them?"  
"Of course, honey. Open your palm and don't look," he said.  
I could just see him placing the tickets in he hand and she squealed loudly, placing a loud smooch on his cheek.  
"Ugh," Gabriella groaned in disgust.  
"Now close your eyes again. I have to bring my other surprise from the car," Harold said.  
"Okay!" Lila squeaked.  
Harold opened the door and I nearly fell out along with Gabriella.  
"Come on, quietly," he whispered.  
We tiptoed to the porch and in frog of Lila whose eyes were still shut tight.  
"Harold?" she called. "Can I open my eyes yet?"

Gabriella nudged me and jerked her head towards Lila who was waiting patiently. I rolled my eyes and said, "Yes, dear," awkwardly.

Gabriella stifled a laugh.

Lila opened her eyes and when they landed on us, she shrieked and clapped her hands madly. I couldn't help but smile at how excited she was to see us. She embraced us warmly and I rubbed her back.

"You don't know how much of a fan I am! Rosie love you guys to!" she effused.

"We're honoured," Gabriella said. "Thank Harold. He's the one who told us about you."

"Oh, did he drive you?" Lila asked.

"Yes. He's a great and friendly driver," Gabriella praised.

"Come in, come in," Lila said. "It's cold outside. I have fresh muffins that are cooling down now."

HSM

"Aww, that's so cute!" Gabriella gushed.

Lila had just told us how Harold had set up their first date. Apparently, he was way shy back then and he had set up candlelight dinner on a picnic mat and it had rose petals scattered everywhere.

"Troy," Gabriella nudged me with her arm. "We haven't gone on a date yet."

"I'm getting to that," I said. "I'm not the most… creative thinker around," I defended myself.

"Guys! You've got to tell me all about how you met! That music video was so good and sweet! I've watched it about a billion times!" Lila exclaimed.

I turned to look at Gabriella and she did the same awkwardly.

"It's a long story," she said.

"Basically," I started. "She came to school in the middle of the school year and she had the locker next to mine. I remember her first words. They were: 'What the heck.' She didn't know why I hung clothes in my locker. My first word to her was: 'What'."

"Then he introduced me to his friends and that, but at that time, I was closed down and secretive. I didn't want friends, but I begged for love and care. My mom and my brother had died on my birthday so I though I was a curse. My dad also started sexually, physically and verbally abusing me on the day my brother died and my mom shot herself one year later. When I was 14, Zac called me to wish me happy birthday and I spilled all my problems. He got on the first plane to Melbourne and brought me back with him. He was the one who recommended me to his agent and there I found a job," Gabriella explained.  
"Zac?" she asked.  
"Yeah. You know, Zac Efron?" Gabriella asked.  
"Zac Efron? I didn't know you lived with him," she said.  
"Hardly anyone does," Gabriella said.  
"Gabriella had chosen to wear a cap and pointless glasses at school as a disguise. I didn't know who she was a the time until she was about to... jump off a cliff. She told me her whole story then and we, you know, bonded. He rest of my friends knew nothing," I continued.  
"Troy's friends got really annoyed when I started saying bad things about myself. They were all protective of their 'favourite celebrity'." Gabriella said. "The day Zac got into a car accident and had a coma was also my birthday. It was also the day I revealed myself to Troy's friends. They weren't my friends yet, but soon they were."  
"One Tuesday, we had gone to a friends house and then decided to go to the beach after. It was just Gabriella and me. The beach was completely deserted. We were fooling around and splashing each other with water, when the sun touched the horizon, I kissed her and told her all my feelings. She did the same back, luckily," I said and they laughed.  
"I had offered Troy a job and that job was to sing the duet with me. We had sung together at prom and during music class and he was really talented. I think he took it to get away from the job of being a waiter," Gabriella laughed. "The song was exactly how we felt. We loved each other but I was scared that he would get hurt."  
"We sang that and then a few days ago, I found Gabriella crying. She had sent a happy birthday message to her father and he had replied, saying not to wish him that because he didn't deserve to be happy. That's when we decided to come here," I finished.  
Lila clapped, "That's so sweet."  
"Very gentlemanly of you, Troy," Harold said. "Gabriella, do you still believe that you hurt the people you love?"  
She shrugged. "Somewhat," she admitted.  
"Well don't. You can't be the cause of someone's death unless you killed them yourself," Harold lectured.  
"I guess," Gabriella said, taking another bite out of her delicious muffin that Lila had baked.  
"Do you want to see the baby?" Lila said suddenly.  
Gabriella's eyes lit up and she nodded eagerly. Lila stood up and went into a room. She came out holding a bundle of sheets.  
"This is Rosie," she introduced. "She is 5 months old."  
"She's so cute!" Gabriella said, playing with the baby's tiny hand.  
Imagine if me and Gabriella had babies... I screamed internally and shook that thought out of my head. Maybe I should take her on a date first before marriage which is before having sex which is before making a family.  
"How long can you guys stay?" Harold asked.  
I looked at my phone.  
"30 more minutes."  
We stayed a their house for exactly 30 minutes, talking about random stuff like Gabriella's obsession with plane food and all that crap. Who likes plane food anyway? We said our goodbyes, gave hugs and Harold drove us back to our hotel.  
"Have fun and see you at the concert!" Harold called, bidding us goodbye."  
"You too!" I said back.

HSM

"Ooh that feels so good! Right there. No! Come one! Don't stop. Oh okay. That's better!" Gabriella moaned.  
Okay. Okay. I'll stop with the games. We weren't having sex. Gabriella was just enjoying the relaxation of a massaging chair.  
"Gabriella, you know what you sound like, right?" I asked her, looking up from my magazine.  
Her eyes widened as she stared at me.  
"Oh my god! Really? Oh my god, oh my god!" she breathed. "Did I really?"  
"Yes."  
"That's terrible. Now I feel awkward," she said.  
"Tell me something to do. I'm bored," I said, closing my magazine.  
She though for a moment.  
"Put you Instagram on public. Don't you have like millions of follow requests?"  
"Something like that," I mumbled, taking out my phone. "There. 3 million followers. I want to take a video of you and post it."  
"Okay. I'm gonna sing something," she said. "Record whenever you want."  
She started singing the high notes of Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande and then danced around while she did so. How was that even possible? I pressed record.  
"FOR WE ARE GLORIOUS!" she sang. Instead of singing an E5, she sang an E6 in a headstand. This Is Me was a nice song, but it actually sounded good. I'm pretty sure the neighbours were wondering what on earth was happening.  
"Oh my god, Gabriella! The neighbours can hear!" I said from behind the camera.  
Then she screamed and octave higher, of course, "I DONT CARE! WHAT THEY'RE GOING TO SAY!"  
Then she started singing whistle notes. Mariah Carey's Emotions. Oh and we're in Australia but she began to sing Star-Spangled Banner, a tone high than Mariah Carey. Then she did that high whistle note at the end. She jumped towards the camera.  
"BOOM BABY! HIGHEST NOTE EVER RECORDED IN HISTORY! THAT WAS AN A7!" she yelled.  
"Shut the fuck up," I mumbled, stopping recording. "I'm proud of you," I added sincerely.  
"Aww, thanks. I don't know why I don't do harder and higher songs. Wait! Don't you dare post that! DON'T YOU DARE POST THAT!" she screamed.  
I pressed the post button and it posted. She screamed.  
"I hate you," she grumbled, crossing her arms.  
"Love you too," I replied teasingly. "People love it."

She snatched my phone from me.

"Hey! Don't delete that!" I said, trying to reach for it.

"I'm not! I'm just seeing how many people like my record breaking singing!" she explained.

And can you guess what happened next?

Of course, we fall on the floor on top of each other. I caged Gabriella to the ground while she was laughing loudly and clutching my phone. I rolled off of her so I was laying down, next to her.

"Look at the stars," she said.

I turned my head to look at her curiously. Her eyes were closed, but she was still smiling.

"Roof?" I questioned.

"Imagine them in your mind. Think of everything that has been created and how it could affect your life, just like cell phones. I'd love to be Darbus someday with her theatrical voice, clothes and all," she said dreamily. "I'm going insane, aren't I?"

She opened her eyes and turned to me. I smiled and sneaked a kiss on her lips. She smiled and returned the gesture.

"I love you for your insanity," I said truthfully.

Aren't I just an amazing boyfriend? You know, giving complements and such.

"You keep me sane," she said.

She went back to staring at the ceiling, so I did it too. What could possibly be so interesting about a layer of white paint? Maybe the lights? I don't know!

"I want to go to Greenland someday," she said randomly.

"Like Jason suggested I should?" I asked.

"Yes. You can come if you want," she said.

"I'd love to."

"If we ever get married," she said distractedly, unconsciously linking my hand with hers. "We should go there and freeze to death. That would be fun."

"And then when we die, we go to the ice underworld, not the fire underworld like hell," I added.

"What?" she said, confusedly turning to me. "You're going crazy," she murmured.

"I'm going crazy?" I asked unbelieving. "Who was just talking about growing up to be like Darbus?"

"Not me," she denied, innocently, in a playfully.

"Lying's bad," I told her.

"I'm bad."

"No you're not," I said.

"Yes I am," she retorted. "I'm rude, sassy, mean, selfish…"

"Wait," I cut her off. "I think you deserve a punishment for saying those things, so…"

She squealed as I attacked her with tickles. I found her most ticklish spot which was somewhere on her belly.

"St-stop-p!" she laughed.

"Say this: I'm a good person with a good heart and I'm not lying," I ordered.

"I'm a g-good person with a g-good hear-heart and I'm n-not lying!" she repeat.

"Okay."

I stopped tickling her and helped her stand up. She gave me back my phone.

"You're welcome," she said. "I want a tattoo. That'd be fun to get here in Australia. I should get one on my back that looks like a sword stabbing me and it should have a heart around the whole thing."

"That was random. Why?" I asked.

"I've always wanted a tattoo and it symbolises stuff," she shrugged. "I always get stabbed in the back by people I love."

"You used to," I corrected her.

"Use to," she said. "And it would look cool too."

"I haven't looked around this place yet," I said.

I left her and walked into the kitchen. It was nice and small with the machinery that we needed for 2 nights. Through the next doorway, there was the entrance and along that corridor, there was a door that led to our bedroom. It had a nice double bed and a closet. This room had nice windows.

"The only good hotels are the ones with Wi-Fi," Gabriella called from the kitchen.

"Don't let Darbus hear you say that," I replied to her.

"I will."

I rolled my eyes. Well, that was Gabriella.

The room opposite our bedroom was the bathroom. It had a cool shower. I classified showers with a showerhead on the roof as 'cool.' It had a low toilet and a nice sink. It had bars to hang our clothes and towels on. I hate those bathrooms that you have to put your clothes on the toilet seat or the ground. I also noted that the room had nice acoustics to sing in.

"Hey, Gabriella," I said, walking out of the bathroom.

"What?" she said, looking up from chopping carrots. "Did you visit the Ministry of Magic? What was it like?"

"Oh yeah, and I caught Barty Crouch Jr. and they locked him up in Azkaban in a prison that can't be opened with _Alohomora_. Fudge was extremely pleased with me so he promoted me and gave me his job as Minister," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Oh, so now you're a Harry Potter nerd?" she asked. "What did you really want to say?"

"That the bathroom has good acoustics. We should record another song in there," I said.

"There's such thing as _reverb_ in the modern ages, Troy. I think you're a little too wrinkly to know about all this technological stuff," she replied monotonously.

"Yeah, and I'm like what? A few months older than you?" I said. "That make you old too."

"So you admit that you're old?"

"No."

"Stuff you then," she said.

"What are you making?" I asked. We had gone shopping for groceries earlier on and as usual, Gabriella stocked up her supply of marshmallows and oranges.

"Well, I decided to be healthy and make a _vegetarian_ salad," she said, looking right into my eyes piercingly, as if she was scolding me.

"I still don't know why you didn't buy meat," I said, sitting down on a dining chair.

"I told you! The only meat that's cheap is chicken. What? Did you want to eat _fish_ salad?"

I rolled my eyes.

"No. I don't get why you don't eat chicken!"

"It's a psychological thing. I feel sick eating chicken because when I was younger, I was passionate about not eating birds. Chickens were and still are my second favourite animal and I couldn't bear to see them killed like that. I don't care if you eat chicken, but it's hard to make two different meals. Once, I went to this shop and there were two big roasters with headless chickens on sticks, turning and burning. Oh! That was a nightmare!" she retold.

"Must've been," I mumbled.

"Glad you agree. Now eat your _vegetarian_ salad without complaining," she said, placing the food on the table.

"It's yummy," I said, as I ate.

"Thank you."

"So tomorrow's a full day of rehearsals and the day after is our concert and leaving day? We so quick?" I asked.

"Can't afford to miss so much school. Don't you have to train for basketball or something?" Gabriella asked me.

"Well, it's kinda nice to not have my dad on my back about it all the time," I replied.

"I can imagine. My dad was on my back all the time… literally," she added.

"You don't need to talk about that," I said.

"I'm kind of scared, though. Like I feel as if I will get to the house's door and then freak out and run away," she admitted.

"In that case, I will force you in. You know you want to do it and if you don't, you'll regret it," I said.

Suddenly, Gabriella shivered and nearly turned over the table.  
"You good?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and causally eating a leaf from my salad.  
"I'm not good!" she snapped. "I'm fucking freezing!"  
"It's November, Gabriella. It's a month till summer, I said.  
"I get cold easily which is why I sleep early; so I can be warm," she explained.  
"Is that common?" I inquired. "Your lack of body heat?"  
"My brother was weird too. He wore shorts and t-shirts in winter, but wore jackets in summer. Actually, he wore shorts all year round," she told me.  
"Okay," I nodded quietly.  
When we finished our dinner, I helped Gabriella to wash up and dry the dishes. "How tired are you?"  
She replied, "Zombie-like. I'll go shower," she sighed and went to the bathroom.  
10 minutes later, she came out of the shower in her towel, sexily.  
"Long shower?" I asked.  
"I couldn't figure out how to turn it on," she grumbled. "And I was standing there, naked, and cold, while trying to turn the handle and stuff. I laughed. "It's not funny! You try!"  
I jumped in the shower and jumped out 5 minutes later. Gabriella had dressed already.  
"Piece of cake," I grinned victoriously.  
"Stuff you," she groaned, lying down on the bed.  
I laid down next to her and stared at the ceiling. Oh, the nostalgia of an hour ago. Sorry, I just wanted to use a long word. The sentence probably didn't even make sense.  
"Can you see the stars now?" Gabriella asked softly.  
"Through the roof? Yeah, I totally have X-Ray vision like that," I said, rolling my eyes.  
"Love the sarcasm," she said.  
"And I love you," I said cheekily.  
"Me too."  
We fell asleep in each other's arms. 

HSM

The next morning, I woke up feeling warm body heat on my front and in my arms. Her hair smelled great even though she hadn't washed it the night before and the rest of her also smelled nice. She fit perfectly in my body as we snuggled up together and she held onto my arms like they were her teddy bear. Today was our first and final rehearsal day. The dancers we hired were supposed to meet us here in Sydney and were going to travel alongside us to the other places.

I tried to unwrap my arms from Gabriella, but she just held onto them tighter.

"Don't go," she mumbled.

"You're awake. In that case, you can come out now," I said.

"Cold," she complained.

"It's November! It's not cold!" I told her.

"Still cold."

My arms relaxed and hers relaxed too, but as soon as she did that, I quickly jerked them back.

"My teddy didn't fall, did it?" she muttered.

I laughed at her cuteness and gave her my hoodie to hug.

"Here. Better?"

"Thank you."

I decided that since Gabriella cooked last night, I should attempt to make an edible breakfast. Usually if I was away from home, I was away with friends and I relied on Zeke to cook. Cooking was something I wasn't great at and although I helped my mom numerous times in the kitchen, I never got the hang of it. I decided to make some scrambled eggs with bacon and toast: a usual large breakfast.

While I was cooking, Gabriella came into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes and still looking beautiful. Gosh, why couldn't _I_ look good after sleeping? She stretched her arms above her head and yawned.

"I'm so tired!" she sang.

"We slept 12 hours," I said. "You went to bed at 7pm and woke up at 7am."

"It's important to know that I can survive on a few hours of sleep, but sleeping is one of my hobbies and I like it, therefore, I get tired sometimes, even if I sleep for a long time," she lectured me, sitting down in a dining chair.

"I have _never_ met a teenager who sleeps so much. Teenagers usually like to stay up and socialise or play video games. Others need to do homework and study," I told her.

"Well, I don't like socialising and I live under a rock when it comes to video games. I don't like school or studying, but I like to read. Sometimes I stay up later than I should and read," she said.

"So reading is how you get smart?" I asked.

"No, I was just doing harder school work at homework," she shrugged. "I could've passed Year 12 in Junior Year."

I finished the last bacon and placed it on a plate. I put the plates on the table along with cutlery and napkins.

"Here you go. I hope you at least find it edible," I said.

"Oh, I'm sure it will be more than edible," she said. "The bread is good."

I laughed.

"The bread was cooked by the toaster, not me."

"I love bread.

"Isn't bread bad for you skin?" I asked.

"Does my skin look bad to you?" she snapped. "Sorry it's just… Ugh. Rehearsals today," she grumbled.  
"Come on, we'll have fun. Plus, we get to meet new people," I said, far more optimistically than I was feeling.  
"But that's so social!" she wined. "You know I don't like talking to new people!"  
"Stop whining! It's for one day. I'm sure you can deal with that," I said.  
"Yeah, while I hide in the corner while people try to get me to take pictures with them. I'm not that friendly!" she complained.  
"I have to agree with that," I said.  
"I'm glad you do," she said. "Come on, we'd better get going now. Let's go get our car."  
We had hired a car for our stay in Sydney. Actually, we had hired a car in all the places we were going to stay in.  
"Can I please have your ID?" asked the man, rightly named 'Michael Carmichael.'  
"Here," I said, placing it on the counter.  
He put on his glasses on his nose and mouthed what he was reading.  
"Troy Bolton," he read. Then he looked up and creepily studied us. "My kids are obsessed with you. Don't think that that's a good thing."  
"Of course not," Gabriella said, believably. "We would hate to be the reason that your children begins to act like us. I totally understand if you think we're a bad influence."  
He glanced up slightly and smirked.  
"I'm going to your concert with them."  
"I hope we see you there," I said.  
"I'll see you there," he said, nonchalantly. "That's a cheap car. You two don't seem the type to hire a cheap car."  
"Yeah, Gabriella's a really cheap person. We are a vegetarian salad last night because she said that meat was too expensive to buy," I said.  
Gabriella kicked me behind the desk.  
"So you hoard all you fortunes in your bank?" Michael asked.  
"I like to save. Actually, we had to spend this money to come here," Gabriella said.  
"Fame is overrated nowadays," he said. "People, like you two, become famous for absolutely nothing, but I'm glad to see that you two don't act like spoilt brats, buying a whole shop and a sports car."  
"Ok?" I said, more as a question.  
"Here are your keys," he said, placing a key on the counter. "He car is in the garage, just next door."  
"Thank you, sir," Gabriella said, and we headed out.  
I swore I heard him say, "Yes, I'm the authority, not you. I deserve to be called 'sir',"  
"Oh, he's very kind, isn't he?" Gabriella said sarcastically. "Showering us with complements and all."  
"Oh yeah. I've always dreamt of being a bad influence to not only children, but the whole world," I said. "And that dream came true."  
Hey, I'm not that cheap, am I?" she asked, as we entered the dark and gloomy car park. I wasn't scared...  
"You are. You've gotta agree," I replied.

"Well I just don't like spending money. There's a difference," she shrugged.

"Yeah, there is, isn't there?"

"Shut up."

We walked up to another man who was dressed in a way-too-formal-suit. He was strangely smoking an old fashioned pipe and he turned to us as we way-too-secretly-for-his-liking 'crept' up behind him.

"Oh dear me!" he exclaimed, as if he was having a heart attack. "Don't scare me like that!"  
"We're sorry, sir," Gabriella said kindly. "We were wondering if we could have our car?"  
"Please show me the paper," he said. "That one's your car."  
He led us to a small, but nice car that looked comfortable. It was painted blue and it had black streaks on the car doors.  
"Here you are," he said.  
"Thank you, sir," Gabriella said.  
He walked away.  
"Nice car," I said.  
"Does it look too cheap?" she asked.  
"No, not at all," I said, without a doubt. I actually kinda liked it. "Now let's get to rehearsals."  
It was a spacious and echoey studio that we drove to. The studio had mirrors and barres along the walls. Our hired performers were already there which meant that we could get straight to work.  
Our choreographer told us how to dance and move at what time and where. She was really quite useful and we ended up learning how the whole concert went pretty quickly. When I say pretty quickly, I mean in hours.  
"Oh, that's tiring!" Gabriella struggled after rehearsing again.  
"Stamina," was all I said.  
"Not like I have any," she muttered, looking away.  
"Okay! Break's over!" the choreographer called. Nice 30 second break.

After a whole day of rehearsal, I slumped down onto the couch and unconsciously closed my eyes, not knowing that I would fall asleep.

HSM

"CONCERT DAY!" Gabriella yelled in my ear, startling me and making me bolt upright.

"Gabriella!" I groaned. "What the fuck?"

"You slept for 14 hours! What are you? An animal that hibernates? I think not," she smirked.

"Haven't you slept for 14 hours before?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"Of course not! Why would you do that if you could spend your day doing something more productive than sleeping?"

"How the hell can you do that?" I asked.

"I've told you before. I don't need much sleep," she grumbled, sauntering into the kitchen. "Come on. Eat some food," she called.

I lazily turned and stood up from the couch, rubbing my arms and stretching my limbs.

"I've forgotten the dance," I muttered, sitting in a chair.

"Yeah, sure you have," she rolled her eyes. "The bed was awfully empty last night."

"You could've slept on top of me."

"Well, then I would've woken you up. I'm not that inconsiderate," she said.

 _RING_

"Oh, hear that," I said. "We have friends who call us."

I picked up my phone at put it on speakerphone.

"Good morning, sir. I am from _Hats and Shoes_ and I am hoping to sell…"

"I DON'T CARE! WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO SAY! LET ME EAT MY FOOD!" Gabriella sang/screamed into the speaker. Then she hung up. "I love Frozen. Best movie ever."

 _RING_

"Greetings. I am from the _Barnaby's Advertisement Company_ and I'd like to sell you some…"

"I will say, I will say, that all sounds crazy. I will say, I will say you've lost your mind. I don't care, I don't care, if you've got my number. Just remember to never call again," she said again and hung up. "Greatest Showman is amazing too. 'Bout 4th on my list."

 _RING_

"Hello and welcome to the line of _Fricking Delicious Appetizers_. Unfortunately, your table is unavailable today because some celebrity called and asked for yours. I hope that's fine…"

Gabriella decided to play along.

"But… but…" she started tearfully. I laughed in the background. "We reserved it first!"

"Well, I'm sorry m'am. This business benefits much when celebrities come," the guy said.

"Who reserved?"

"Troy Bolton."

Gabriella paused.

"But… We go together, like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong. Remembered forever, as shoo-bop sha wadda wadda yippity boom de boom. Chang chang changitty chang sha-bop. That's the way it should be. Wah-oooh, yeah!" she sang, hanging up. "I've never hear of that place before."

 _RING_

She pressed the answer button and screamed, "FOR THE LOVE OF FUCKING JESUS CHRIST! SHUT UP WITH THE ADVERTISEMENTS! I. DON'T. FUCKING. CARE!"

She was about to hang up until…

"Jesus, Gabriella! What was all that about keeping your mouth clean?" Taylor's voice said.

"Oh, hey, Tay?" she laughed awkwardly. "We just got 2 advertisement calls and 1 waiter tell us that we couldn't have our reserved table because Troy Bolton had reserved it. We never even reserved anything at a place so… haha?"

"Is Troy there?" Chad asked.

"Yeah, man. What's up?" I asked.

"When's your tour?"

"In a few hours, man. I'm so tired," I complained.

"He slept so long!" Gabriella complained. "I'm not even that tired after I have 5 hours of sleep!"

"Well, that's you, not me," I said. "Oh look! Another call coming in, bye Tay and Chad."

"Hello?" said the man.

"Yes?" I answered.

"Mr. Bolton, your show is in 2 hours. Please start making your way to the venue," the man informed us.

"Yes, thank you, sir," I said.

The man hung up as I stood up.

"Wow. We have our very own human diaries," I said.

Gabriella laughed.

"Yes. That's very true. We'd better get our stuff and leave," she told me.

HSM

"So, why don't you do meet and greets?" I asked Gabriella in the car.

I saw her shrug through the reflection of the front window. Personally, I thought that the window was terrible because it showed reflections. Mirror were supposed to show reflections, not windows. Car windows showing reflections were very dangerous.

"They're too stressful. Honestly, I'm not a very social person, therefore, I don't enjoy talking to people very much. Many people view me as an introvert and I'm very awkward with strangers, but not with people I know," she explained.

I looked over at her.

"Really? We'll, this conversation is pretty awkward," I said.

She glared at me.

"I told you, I'm a socially awkward person!" she complained. "Besides, talking drains the energy out of me."

"Does this talking between you and me drain you?" I asked.

"What? No!" she defended quickly. "Of course not! Just sometimes, it drains me. Like if the conversation has a lot of fast and loud talk in it, of course I'd be tired. This types of calm, casual talk is nice."

"Well, that's good. I hope you're not getting sick of me," I said nonchalantly.

"Why, it's impossible to get sick of you," she said in a really sarcastic voice. "You're the life of the party. Without you, the party doesn't work, not that I know anything about parties."

"You don't like parties?"

She shook her head.

"I don't like those type of dancing and drinking parties cause they're too social. I didn't even like birthday parties when I was a kid. Actually, I didn't get invited to much of them. I didn't have much friends," she said.

"Then what isn't too social for you?" I questioned her.

"Uh… sleeping?" she said, more as a question. "By myself," she added, with a hard tone. I looked at her and her eyes widened. "Oh no! Not that sleeping that _we_ do. Sleeping in a bed with you is great. I meant the other sleeping!"

"You got me worried for a sec there," I said.

"Anything with you alone is not too social," she said sweetly.

"Same for you."

I swore she blushed, but the in the reflection, it was hard to see colour.

"Oh my god," I said in a monotone. "There's so many cars here already."

"So unemotional, aren't you," Gabriella smiled, patting my hand.

"Same for you."

HSM

"Can we like… hide or something?" Gabriella asked, motioning for me to follow her quicker. "I'm getting creeped out. Those paparazzi look like they're stalkers or something."

"Honey, they _are_ stalkers. They follow your life," I told her.

She rolled her eyes. Inevitable.

"Let's just get in," she said, pulling my arm harshly.

We managed to avoid the crowd of fans that we talking, or rather, screaming loudly at the front of the building. They weren't allowed in yet because it was too early, but they were eager to be the first inside. We had decided to not allocate seats to the crowd, but they were able to sit wherever they pleased. That is why they had arrived 2 hours before the show. All of a sudden, something sharp clawed into my back.

"Ow!" I groaned, not in a surprised voice. "What the hell?"

I turned around to see a 13 year old girl who resembled Sharpay with the pink and glitter, but she had pictures of Gabriella and me plastered all over her. Her shirt had our faces printed on it and her pants had them. I jumped back when I saw the back of my head in the middle of her pants where… you know was. Her hair looked very much like Gabriella's, but it was easy to tell that it was a wig and she wore so much jewellery. Her shoes were the exact same as Gabriella's. How did she even know? Oh yeah, she's a fan, also known as a stalker.

"Sorry!" she squeaked. "I just really wanted to see you! I'm so so so _so_ excited for your performance today. I love you two and you're so cute together, but I'd love to kiss you someday, Troy! I'd even kiss you, Gabriella! Look! I got the _exact_ same shoes as you! Isn't it amazing? They were the last ones left in the shop, so I begged Mom to buy me them! She was really hard to convince, but I'm so glad she got them!"

She paused for breath and panted.

"And how exactly did you get in here already?" Gabriella asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, I climbed through the gutter," she said, as if it was nothing to be worried about.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

She giggled when I spoke to her.

"Of course, Troy! Why would you think such a thing? Anyway, I really want a photo with you and an autograph. I have a Polaroid here and we can take selfie! How exciting would that be?" she squealed.

"Miss," came a voice. I turned to see Whaud walking up to us and ushering the girl away. "Everyone else is waiting outside. So should you."

"But… but… I need this to show off to my friends! And how do you know I'm a 'miss?' I could be married, you know," she yelled.

Well… that was creepy. When she was gone, we went into the dressing room and sat down for the stylists to put on makeup on us. Ew.

"I'm pretty sure my back looks like an animal attacked me," I said to Gabriella who was getting her hair done.

"She clawed you?" she asked. "Well that's what fans do. They go extreme lengths just to see you."

"Do you think she's actually married?" I asked in a quiet voice, as if the girl was listening.

"I doubt it. She's just trying to seem 'of age'," Gabriella replied.

HSM

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, the stars of the show, Gabriella Montez and Troy Bolton, will proceed to perform their hit single: _Forbidden Love_ ," the announcer said into the mic.

I looked down at Gabriella and she was practically shaking.

"I thought you've done shows before," I hissed.

"I know!" she screamed quietly into my ear. "The people intimidate me. And if our vocals mess up or we trip or fail at the choreography, the whole world will know!"

"It's now or never, then," I replied cheekily.

'Shut up! I'm under enough pressure as it is!" she said.

When the announcer appeared back stage, that was our cue to take our positions on stage. The lights had shut off so the audience wouldn't see us, but for us, it was almost impossible to see. The extra dancers trooped behind us as well and took their own places.

When the music came on, I was hiding behind something. I think it was some prop. Gabriella had her own solo with the dancers where she was dancing like she was being tortured. After that, I emerged from my hide out and began to sing to her. The crowd went wild… literally. Some fans tried to creep onto the stage like animals trying to get out of their pens.

So, we did our dance and then the crowd cheered like a normal crowd would. We went off stage and heaved sighs of relief. But, the show wasn't over yet.

"Guys, we're going to interview you on stage," Whaud announced.

"What?" Gabriella said, straight away. "Why didn't we know this?"

"We just decided that the fans needed more than just a song. They pay big bucks to attend this performance; they deserve to hear more," Whaud replied.

I shrugged.

"That's fine with me."

Gabriella sighed.

"Alright, I'll do it."

Whaud motioned for the announcer to go back on stage.

"Surprise, surprise," the announcer said. "Gabriella and Troy have decided to not only perform to you, but you will also get to witness a live interview here today. Please welcome them back onto the stage along with one of our crew, James Scanly."

Again, we went back onto the stage as the crowd cheered and clapped and we took our seats.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gents," Scanly started. "Today we are joined by 2 very special people, Troy and Gabriella, who will be answering some of my questions and then some of yours."

I nodded at the crowd and they screamed in delight.

"Okay, settle down," Scanly said. "First question. Many people have been wondering how you two came together, so how did you?" he asked.

"Well," Gabriella said, into the mic. "I joined his school in the middle of last year. There, I didn't let people know who I was, but he was the only one who stuck by me."

The crowd awwed and I grinned at them.

"That's sweet. So, Troy, you're quite the gentleman, I see. Any other girls you've been with?" Scanly asked slyly, smirking a little.

I blushed.

"Um… no, not really. I didn't really… _date_ until Gabriella came along," I answered.

"Interesting. What drew you to her?"

"Gabriella was great," I complimented and she blushed bashfully. "I mean, she wasn't talkative at first because she was shut down and private, but when I got to know her, she was funny, smart, sweet and a bunch of other things. She was a mystery."

"A mystery?" Scanly asked.

I looked over at Gabriella and she explained.

"A lot of you may think I have a perfect life, but I don't. The real reason I decided to come to Australia was to see my dad. You see, on my 13th birthday, my brother, Juan, was murdered after a family dinner party. Since it was my birthday, I was blamed. I was abused, raped and hit for a year until my next birthday. I woke up and my mom shot herself right in front of my eyes. Before my dad could come home and do his 'deeds,' I ran away to a park. I had met Zac Efron 2 years before on a trip in Hawaii and he called me that day to wish me happy birthday. So naturally, I broke down and told him everything. Like the nice, caring guy he is, he booked the first flight to Melbourne and took me back home with him. I've been living with him ever since. Then I started going into acting to get my mind of things, but after that, I decided that I wanted to actually finish school properly. I enrolled into the school and met Troy. As he said before, he was the only person who didn't judge me the first time we spoke and I love him for that."

The audience was silent and Gabriella looked really scared, as if all her fans would turn away from her and leave. Then suddenly…

"GO GABRIELLA! GO GABRIELLA! GO GABRIELLA!"

"You're a role model!"

"I wish I was strong like you!"

"Troy! You're so caring. How are you not judgemental?"

"Gabriella! I idolise you so much more now!"

I smiled at Gabriella. I was so proud of her that people looked up at her now. She was a great role model who demonstrated that you could overcome anything.

"Well, that was certainly something we didn't expect," Scanly said. "So that's _the mystery of Gabriella Montez!"_

Gabriella forced a laugh. It was really fake.

"Crowd questions now. Someone will be wandering around with a mic."

A pregnant woman stood up.

"When's the baby coming?" she asked obnoxiously.

My eyes widened in shock. I'm sure Gabriella's did too.

"Uh…" I stuttered. "There's no baby…"

I'm sure some of the crowd felt disheartened at that statement.

"Do you two live together?" a balding man asked.

"No," Gabriella replied. "Troy lives with his parents."

A business-like-dressed woman with glasses stood up.

"You two are exceptionally good singers. How long have you been singing for?" she asked.

Finally, a proper question!

"I don't know about her, but I haven't done any singing before this," I replied.

"I sang in the shower," Gabriella.

Some of the audience laughed and some of their jaws dropped.

"You've never had singing lessons or anything?" Scanly asked.

We shook our heads.

"That's hard to believe."

The mic was handed to a cute girl who looked about 7 years old.

"Hello, Troy and Gabriella. My name is Allie and I want to ask you a question."

"Go ahead, Allie," Gabriella said, kindly.

"I love you!" she said cheekily.

"We love you too," I grinned, pointing at her in the audience.

Scanly glanced at his watch.

"One more question."

Who was lucky? A teenage girl.

"Hi, my name is Isabelle. Can I ask you a favour? I really want a nice poster to put up in my room. I don't know about you, but I'm a huge sucker for romance and it'd be cool if PDA was shown on the poster… if you catch my drift," she said.

"So you want us to kiss?" Gabriella asked.

"Up the front, please," the girl added.

I turned to Gabriella and she was looking at the audience unsurely.

"Kiss, kiss, kiss, KISS, KISS, KISS! KISS! KISS!" the crowd yelled.

"Let's do it," I said, grabbing her hand and leading her to the front of the stage.

I kissed her full on the mouth and cheers and camera snaps were heard. Camera flashes were seen and I could sense the crowd getting up on their feet and clapping. I pulled back and she blushed. So such for privacy.

"Oh look, the two lovebirds are here," Whaud teased us as we appeared backstage hand in hand.

"You've gotta please the people, Whaud. You, of all people should know that," Gabriella said.

And all was well until…

HSM

We had successfully finished our tour and we were lying down, exhausted, in our hotel room in Melbourne. I wasn't surprised that we had to kiss at least once at every performance. We had only done the interview at Sydney, but the crowd still demanded it. Gabriella had performed a few of her singles as well.

"Too. Social!" she complained.

"You're so anti-social, you know that?" I asked her. "At least you aren't on your phone or something all the time," I added, rolling my eyes.

"People still do that?" she mumbled into a pillow. "Phone addictions are so outdated. Oh, look, I got more followers on Instagram."

"So much for the phone comment," I muttered.

"I heard that."

I whipped out my own phone and stared at my 2 million more followers.

"Why so much?" I whined.

"That's what comes with fame, honey," she said. "Stalkers."

"People are sending me edits," I told her, scrolling through my DM's.

"Same here," she said. "I want to visit my dad today."

"Sure," I asked.

"Very."

HSM

Gabriella backed away from the front door of her old house. It was a nice one, single story and pretty modern, but not too modern.

"I'm scared!" she whimpered.

"Come on!" I encouraged. "Now or never, remember?"

"Okay," she inhaled deeply and exhaled loudly. "I can do this."

"Yes, you can."

"You totally just ruined my alone moment," she muttered.

She pressed the doorbell and jumped back as if the door would suck her in.

"Coming!" a manly voice called from inside.

Maybe I should make this a dramatic moment. A key was heard, sliding into the doorknob and a click sounded. The door slightly opened and a piano could be seen in a room. The door opened wider to reveal a clean corridor. Suddenly, the outline of a Spanish man could be seen. He was standing tall, but his face showed tiredness and wariness.

"Gabriella…" he breathed.

Gabriella had faced her back to the door, but she turned around, her eyes widening.

"Dad…"

Gabriella rushed forward and engulfed him in a hug. I watched as tears fell from Mr. Montez's eyes as he reunited with his daughter. Such a sweet moment.

"I'm so sorry," I heard him whisper into Gabriella's hair.

"It's okay, Dad. You were heartbroken," Gabriella forgave him.

How was she so forgiving like that?

"But I shouldn't have taken it out on you! I shouldn't have taken it out on anyone, in fact! You were my daughter! I'm not even worthy of calling you my daughter anymore!" Mr. Montez cried, his voice breaking with every word.

"Everyone makes mistakes," Gabriella comforted him. "You were confused. You didn't know what to do."

"Why did you come back?"

Gabriella sighed and pulled back from the hug.

"You still deserve to be happy," she said.

Mr. Montez shook his head.

"No, I don't. After everything I-I've done to you, how am I supposed to be happy… after I made your life a living hell?" he asked frantically.

"Dad," Gabriella said strictly. "You have made me a better, strong person. If it wasn't for you, I'd be crying in the toilet every time someone called me a nerd; I'd be escaping to the other side of the world if someone so much as accidentally nudged me. See? That is how my life has shaped because of you!"

"But… you were just a child!" he exclaimed. "Children are supposed to be treated with care, to be loved by their parents. I showed nothing of that sort, in fact, the complete opposite. Utter hate. I abused you, yet, you forgive me? It's not right!"

"Like I said before, Dad, you made me a better and I have you to thank for that. I'm not the old, scared, vulnerable Gabriella anymore. I can stand up for myself and defend myself now. Thank you," she said, embracing him again.

"Do you want to come in?" Mr. Montez asked shakily.

"Sure," Gabriella said. I could tell that she was trying to hold back her tears and be strong.

The house was lovely. I wondered if Gabriella's room was still furnished and clean. Maybe it had some dust in it from lack of chore-helpers.

"Water?" Mr. Montez asked.

"Sure," Gabriella and I said at the same time.

"I don't have oranges and marshmallows, sorry," he apologised. "When I saw your tour ad, I didn't think you'd visit me."

"Dad, we decided to come to Australia to see you. Coincidentally, we also released that song and it was a big hit, so naturally, we decided to tour. And you remembered?" Gabriella asked, almost teary eyed with delight.

"Of course. How could I forget. You love oranges and marshmallows!" Mr. Montez said. "Oh my god! I'm so rude! I haven't introduced myself! I'm Carlos Montez, Gabriella's 'so-called' father."

He stuck out his hand and I shook it firmly.

"You shouldn't speak about yourself like that," I advised him.

"Just speaking the truth," he replied.

I shrugged and shook my head. I wondered how much his brain was messed up.

"When are you going back?" Mr. Montez asked.

"In 3 days."

"Do you want to… maybe… um," he stuttered. "Maybe… um… stay here? Then you don't have to pay for a hotel," he offered shyly. "I figured that I should start making up to you."

Gabriella turned to look at me. I shrugged. It was _her_ choice after all, since it was _her_ dad.

"Can I see my room?" she asked.

"Of course! Of course!" Mr. Montez almost yelled, jumping up on his feet straight away.

Gabriella looked at him strangely and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

He nodded rather eagerly.

"Yes! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Dad, you can tell us," she assured him, placing her hand on her shoulder.

He sighed.

"When you left, I realised what a bad father I had been. Eventually, word got out about what I had done to you and everyone turned against me. I had no one to look to so I fell into a state of depression. I haven't spoken to anyone except for shopkeepers and my therapist since you went," he recounted.

"What?" Gabriella asked, surprised. "That happened? Are you still depressed?"

"I'm on anti-depressant meds," he explained. "My therapist says that I should be off them in a few weeks."

"That's good," Gabriella.

Mr. Montez turned the handle on the door of Gabriella's bedroom, revealing a surprisingly clean room. It was pretty girly but nice at the same time. Totally suiting Gabriella.

"I cleaned it everyday," he said.

Gabriella stared at him awe.

"What? Really? You don't know how much that means to me!" she squealed.

She ran into the room and jumped onto her bed.

"I love it!" she said happily.

I laughed at her kiddish personality.

"Troy, you can sleep in the guest room or Gabriella's room in the bed underneath her bed," Mr. Montez said to me.

"What happened to Juan's room?" Gabriella asked suddenly.

"Juan's room? When I was depressed, I got so mad and upset, totally overreacting, I trashed the room. I replaced it as an extra storage room. I'm sorry if you wanted to keep it for memories," he apologised.

"It's okay, Dad," Gabriella said, her voice muffling in her pillow. "I _completely_ understand."

"Back onto topic, where do you want to sleep?"

"I don't mind. Whichever would take the least time to get ready," I shrugged.

"Troy can sleep _anywhere_ ," Gabriella remarked, sitting up.

I smiled at her. Typical Gabriella.

"The guest room is a bit of a mess at the moment, so I guess Gabriella's room would be faster," Mr. Montez said. "Also, I still have the two cars, so you can return your rental car and get the money back if you want."

"That'd be absolutely _fabulous_ ," Gabriella said.

"You sound like Sharpay now," I groaned.

"You have a dog?" Mr. Montez asked.

"What? No!" Gabriella laughed out loud. "Although I'd love to get one. Sharpay is one of our friends."

Mr. Montez scrunched up his face and Gabriella laughed even harder.

"Dad? It's good to have you back."

HSM

"You know what?" I asked evilly.

Gabriella faked a scared face at me and her face actually went pale as if it was true.

"What?" she dramatically whispered.

"I'm gonna make you eat pie," I said devilishly.

She held a hand to her heart.

"You wouldn't!"

"Oh, I would," I smiled.

She finally grinned.

"I'd love to."

"Eat it!" I pushed Gabriella.

"Gosh, I haven't had this in years!" she exclaimed. "It looks foreign, but I love the pastry!"

"Then eat it if you love it," I said.

"Wait. Did you put chicken in it?" she asked.

"No," Mr. Montez replied. "Beef."

"Just eat it!"

"Okay, okay. Go to patience school!"

She cut off the top of the pie and used a spoon to eat the filling.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm eating the pie the way it's supposed to be eaten. There's a reason why a pie is shaped like a bowl with a detachable lid," she explained with her mouth full.

"You are _so_ weird," I commented.

HSM

"Troy!" Gabriella complained, holding onto me. "Don't make me leave!"

We were at the airport and Mr. Montez was helping us check in our luggage.

"Well," I lectured her. "Sometimes dreams don't come true."

She slapped my chest.

"Don't be so pessimistic!"

"As if you're not," I scoffed.

"Kids, I'm done," Mr. Montez said. "We can go through now."

"Okay," I said, taking Gabriella's bag and slinging it on my shoulder.

"Thanks," she said. "Such a gentleman," she added, muttering.

"I was destined to be one, honey," I said. "You're lucky."

"Oh, yes, I am," she agreed. "I can't wait! Food! Food! Airplane food! Best days of my life!" she said. She caught me strange look. "It's called being unique, honey… you're lucky. There's no other human in the world like me."

"Well, I'm sure there are animals that are like you," I replied mockingly. "For example, your eating resembles that of a pig's. Your hair is like a lion's. Your body is like an ant's. And your face… also looks like a pig's."

"I am hurt!" she exclaimed sarcastically. "SMH. You're attracted to an animal?"

"What? No! What does 'SMH' mean?" I asked.

"It means 'shaking my head.' You're an old man, Troy. You don't know a thing about social media and acronyms. That's why you go after the animal; the ladies think you're too old," Gabriella said to me.

"Look who's hurting now," I grinned.

"Flight boarding from Melbourne to Sydney…"

"Plane food!" Gabriella screamed, hugging Mr. Montez. "Bye, daddy! Keep safe and have some fun! Love you!"

Mr. Montez's face now turned to the look of an old man.

"Love you too," he said. "Troy, take care of her."

"More than my own life."

 **Author's Note: So, did you like the point of view from Troy? Please review**


	11. Epilogue

**Author's Note: This will be the last chapter. I hope you all enjoyed the story. I was a little disappointed from lack of reviews, however, I'm sure you guys read through and just didn't have time to say anything. I'll try to continue making stories** **. Review this one, guys.**

 **Bold: Author's Note/ Other**

Normal: Present

 _Italics: Flashback/ Song lyrics/ Texts_

 _Gabriella's P.O.V._

 _Months had passed since we had arrive back in Albuquerque. It was as quiet as usual with lack of partying and loud entertainment. We preferred to live peacefully and no one would get upset. Fraternities and sororities were not a big thing here._

 _Today was Graduation Day. It was like the whole year had flown by like an eagle because eagles are fast and now, we were going to graduate from yet another phase of our lives. We were going to move up another level to college._

 _I had applied to go to U of A, just like Troy, Chad and Taylor. I would be studying Psychology since it spoke to me. I'd be able to understand why people did what they did since I'd had the experience of my dad's mind working… queerly._ I was also going to study Theatre because it was a passion of mine. Taylor was going to study Science and Mathematics. Chad was going to study Basketball. Troy was going to study Basketball and Theatre with me. We had managed to get the same classes.  
The college had given me and Troy notice about how they were worried that we would drop out of college halfway through it due to our participation in the entertainment industry, but we promised them that we wouldn't.  
As I said before, it was Graduation Day. I was at Sharpay's house waiting for her to finish doing my hair.  
"Hang on, Gabriella!" she said. "I promise I'm almost finished!"  
"You said that an hour ago! And every 5 minutes since then!" I complained.  
"Be a big girl and deal with it," she demanded. "There! Happy? Was the patience worth it?"  
I looked in the mirror and nearly tipped backwards at the surprise I saw. It was a good one. She had really slowly made my wild curls more peaceful.  
"You spent 2 hours making sure that none of my hair was out of place?" I asked.  
She nodded eagerly.  
"Do you like it?"  
"Yeah! Of course I like it. I just think it could've been quicker. I'm not going to my wedding, so I don't need to pay that close attention to my hair," I explained.  
"You'll soon be," she smirked slyly.  
"Sharpay!" I scolded her.  
"Can't wait to hear all about the proposal and what type of ring he gets you. Ooh! I hope it's one of those golden ones with a turquoise gem inside of it. I know you like that type of color! And then I can be your bridesmaid!" she squealed, clapping her hands excitedly.  
"Not happening anytime soon," I mumbled.  
"Oh, come on, Gabi. We all know that Troy would marry you right now if he could," she said, wiggling her eyebrows funnily.  
"And Zeke could too," I shot back.  
She blushed.  
"That'd be a dream come true."

HSM

"Morning, beautiful," Troy greeted me when he spotted me near the library at school. "On a scale of 1 to 10, how annoyed are you at Sharpay as of now?" he asked knowingly.  
"11," I replied. "She spent 2 hours on my hair."  
He stared at it blankly.  
"It looks the same as usual," he commented.  
"Oh, thanks, Troy," I said sarcastically.  
"What? I never said it was ugly, in fact, it looks really good, as usual," he defended himself.  
"Oh, thanks, Troy," I said, this time in a sickly sweet voice.  
"You know you love me," he smiled cheekily.  
"That, I do," I replied, just as cheekily as him.  
"So, how do you feel?" he questioned. "About graduating from this hellhole?"  
"I feel like I'm going straight from hell to heaven without going to Earth in between. It's kinda like dry ice in Science. It's a solid and it goes straight to has with hardly any liquid stage," I explained. Then I face-palmed. "Oh my god! I hate how I do that! Every single day, I swear I relate something to school! They're like metaphors and now... I'm relating it to English!"  
Troy chuckled.  
"Yeah, yesterday when we were doing Gym, you were talking about how if 2 people sprint next to each other at the same time, they would naturally attract. Then you said something about how opposites attract like magnets and then about how if you're opposites, one of you fat and one is thin. The gravitational field around the fat person is stronger at it pulls the thinner person towards them. I didn't understand a single thing of what you said!"  
"Honey," I said. "It's simple 7th Grade Science, not College Science. How are you graduating if you can't understand simple concepts like that?"  
He shrugged.  
"I don't know, but the teachers love me. That certainly helps."  
"I can't disagree," I mumbled.  
Suddenly, I felt a presence behind me. Actually, 2 presences. It was Chad and Taylor.  
"Hi, kids!" Chad greeted us happily, bouncing around like a child. "We're graduating today! Can you believe that?"  
"I'm surprised you're graduating, Chad," Troy remarked. "So no, I can't believe it.  
I stifled a laugh behind my hand and so did Taylor.  
"You know it's true, babe," Taylor told her boyfriend.  
Chad put a playfully sad expression on his face and he pouted, storming away.  
"Well, there he goes. I'd better catch up. See ya during the ceremony," Taylor said, waving vigorously to us.  
Out of the blue, my phone began to ring my amazing ringtone for Zac. I answered like a good godchild, turning on speakerphone.  
"Quoi de neuf?" I asked him.  
"Pas grand-chose," he replied. "Okay, I'm faking my terrible French skills. Just wondering if you were coming back home after or not."  
I turned to Troy questioningly.  
"Is it okay if I steal her away and go to the beach?" he asked Zac.  
"Yeah, sure. What time will you be back?" Zac asked.  
"After sunset. That's for sure," Troy answered.  
"Okay, fine. I'm coming to watch. See you in a bit. Love you guys."  
"You too," I said before hanging up. "Why are we going to the beach?"  
Troy shrugged.  
"Dunno. Just thought it would be a good place to reminisce," he said. "It's quiet there too. A nice place to relax an let go."  
"Fair enough. Oh look! It's time to go now. I can't wait!" I exclaimed.  
"Can't wait to give your speech?"  
"No! I can't wait till it's over! Why the hell would they choose me to be valedictorian?" I asked.  
"Cause you're smart, artistic, sporty, kind, caring, loving and everything else that's a good quality. And on top of that, you have the most amazing boyfriends ever!" Troy playfully bragged.  
"Okay, okay. Your ego is already big enough as it is. No need to boost it even more," I said, opening the door to backstage.  
"Bolton, Montez. Just in the nick of time. We were just about to start without you," Darbus told us strictly.  
Chad leant over and whispered in my ear, "You actually have like 5 minutes to spare. She's just trying to make you feel bad."

"Show's starting in 5 minutes," Darbus announced. "Take your places on stage."

We lined up along the stage in rows and I stood next to Troy. Such a memorable moment could go so fast. The curtain went up and the audience clapped.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen," Darbus said. "We have gathered here to congratulate our fellow graduates on their remarkable journey though the school years. East High has certainly been blessed with these pupils and it would be unpleasant to ignore the marvellous achievements the students have made. One student in particular has shown great growth through her 1 and a half years of being at East High. Please welcome Gabriella Montez as she makes her speech."

No! Public speaking sucks!

I meekly walked to the podium and spoke into the mic.

"Good morning, everyone," echoed loudly around the stage. "Even though I have only come to East High for 1 and a half years, I have witnessed a dramatic change in its sociality. When I arrived, the school was split into very visible cliques: the jocks, cheerleaders, nerd, loners and so forth. People had constant disputes and others just didn't want anything to do with particular students. I had predicted that I would be a loner when I arrive firstly because I wore shady clothes and secondly because I didn't talk all that much. I made 1 friend in 4 months, shout out to you, but afterwards, I made more. I was able to see that people sorted out their differences and we lived in harmony. Thank you."

Everyone clapped as I walked back to my spot on the stage. Out of the corner of my eye, I swore I saw Sharpay and Stacy Brighton giggling hushedly.

"Thank you, Ms. Montez. What a wonderful speech," Darbus commended me. "Now it's time for our awards ceremony. Zeke Baylor, Troy Bolton, Stacey Brighton, Martha Cox, Jason Cross, Chad Danforth, Ryan Evans, Sharpay Evans, Taylor McKessie, Gabriella Montez, Kelsi Nielson, Jacob Platelle."

 **Author's Note: I won't put all names otherwise I'll have to make up some.**

Everyone clapped as we bowed and we walked off stage. Troy and I had decided to ditch the after party and go to the beach (as said before.) We walked hand in hand along the deserted area, taking in the beautiful scenery of the water and the sky. The sand was soft under our bare feet, not too hot.

"This has gotta be my favorite beach in the world," I said, softly, holding onto Troy's arm.

"Really?" he asked, looking down at me.

"It's so quiet and peaceful out here, where there's no one around. Feels very romantic," I explained.

"Romantic? I've got to agree with you there. When it's just us… on the beach, we can our alone time, away from everyone and everything else," Troy agreed. "Let's sit here."

We sat down under the shade of a palm tree that overlooked the ocean. There were no boats or anything, just the sand, ocean, sky and nature. I rested my head on Troy's chest and he stroked my hair delicately.

"Seems like it was just yesterday that you arrived at East High. You know, East High really did change when you came. I'll bet the Sharpay and Stacy are best friends as of now," Troy said, sweetly.

"I know, but it's not just me. You and everyone else helped. _You_ were able to help _me_ come out of my shell and talk. Who would've know that we'd end up here?" I asked, softly.

Troy kissed my hair and I smiled at the feeling.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too," I replied.

Seemed like love really did beat everything.

 **Author's Note: So, that's the end. What did you think? I might write another story, who knows?"**


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